Transmission and reception apparatus, methods, and systems for filtering content

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a transmission apparatus for distributing a content to a client, including: a question generation section configured to generate question information representative of a question regarding liking of a user of the client; and a transmission section configured to transmit the question information and provider side answer information in the form of a bit string representative of an answer set by a provider which provides the content to the question regarding the liking of the user to the client.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a non-provisional application of and claimsthe benefit of priority from U.S. Application No. 61/377,808, filed Aug.27, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a transmission apparatus and method, areception apparatus and method, and a transmission and reception system,and more particularly to a transmission apparatus and method, areception apparatus and method, and a transmission and reception systemby which a content can be acquired in response to metadata.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, together with digitalization of televisionbroadcasting, the amount of information which can be broadcast at a timehas increased dramatically, and various data are broadcastsimultaneously together with a television program or content to beviewed on the real time basis.

Further, as a communication path for a content, a content downloadservice which selectively uses the television broadcasting describedabove and the Internet which allows high speed downloading of data hasbeen proposed and is disclosed, for example, in Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 2010-21988.

Incidentally, in general content download services, a filteringattribute also called filtering index, filtering metadata or the likeset by a server on the provider side which provides or distributescontents such as the content provider side or the service provider sideis added as metadata to a content. Consequently, a client which receivesor acquires the content can carry out filtering of the content.

The filtering attribute is set as a value of an element of metadataselected from within a metadata set prescribed by a standardizationorganization such as ATSC (Advanced Television Standard Committee) orARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses).

In particular, a content to which filtering attributes that “viewingtarget” is selected as an element of metadata and that “years of lifebetween ten and nineteen” is set as a value regarding the element of themetadata are applied is provided to clients which carry out filtering soas to acquire a “content for a viewer whose “viewing target is viewerswhose years of life are between ten and nineteen.”

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, it is not available to apply metadata or a filtering attributewhich is not included in a metadata set prescribed by a standardizationorganization to a content.

For example, even if the provider side wants to distribute a contentwhose “watching target is viewers of years of life between ten andnineteen” to viewers who “are interested in job-hunting,” if a metadataset prescribed by a standardization organization does not include“whether or not a viewer is interested in job-hunting” as an element ofmetadata, then the provider side cannot apply a filtering attribute that“interested in job-hunting” is set as an element of metadata to thecontent.

Accordingly, the provider side cannot distribute a content to which amatter which satisfies current needs such as, for example, to take atrend into consideration and in which a viewer is interested is appliedas metadata.

Further, in such a case as described above, the client side cannot carryout filtering so that a content which satisfies the needs at the time isobtained.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a transmission apparatus andmethod, a reception apparatus and method, and a transmission andreception system by which a content which satisfies needs at the timecan be acquired.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a transmission apparatus for distributing a content to aclient, including question generation means for generating questioninformation representative of a question regarding liking of a user ofthe client, and transmission means for transmitting the questioninformation and provider side answer information in the form of a bitstring representative of an answer set by a provider which provides thecontent to the question regarding the liking of the user to the client.

The transmission apparatus may further include metadata generation meansfor generating metadata including the provider side answer informationas metadata of the content corresponding to the answer set by theprovider, the transmission means transmitting the metadata to theclient.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided also a transmission method for a transmission apparatus fordistributing a content to a client, including the steps of generatingquestion information representative of a question regarding liking of auser of the client, and transmitting the question information andprovider side answer information in the form of a bit stringrepresentative of an answer set by a provider which provides the contentto the question regarding the liking of the user to the client.

In the transmission apparatus and the transmission method, questioninformation representative of a question regarding liking of a user ofthe client is generated. Then, the generated question information andprovider side answer information in the form of a bit stringrepresentative of an answer set by a provider which provides the contentto the question regarding the liking of the user are transmitted to theclient.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a reception apparatus for acquiring a content distributed froma server, including answer generation means for generating, in responseto question information representative of a question regarding liking ofa user and transmitted from the server to the reception apparatus, userside answer information in the form of a bit string representative of ananswer of the user to the question, and matching means for carrying outmatching between the answer information and provider side answerinformation in the form of a bit string representative of an answer setby a provider which provides the content to the question and transmittedfrom the server to the reception apparatus to determine acquisition ofthe content distributed from the server.

The matching means may carry out the matching to determine acquisitionof the content corresponding to metadata including the provider sideanswer information.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided also a reception method for a reception apparatus for acquiringa content distributed from a server, including the steps of generating,in response to question information representative of a questionregarding liking of a user and transmitted from the server to thereception apparatus, user side answer information in the form of a bitstring representative of an answer of the user to the question, andcarrying out matching between the answer information and provider sideanswer information in the form of a bit string representative of ananswer set by a provider which provides the content to the question andtransmitted from the server to the reception apparatus to determineacquisition of the content distributed from the server.

In the reception apparatus and the reception method, in response toquestion information representative of a question regarding liking of auser and transmitted from the server to the reception apparatus, userside answer information in the form of a bit string representative of ananswer of the user to the question is generated. Then, matching betweenthe generated answer information and provider side answer information inthe form of a bit string representative of an answer set by a providerwhich provides the content to the question and transmitted from theserver is carried out to determine acquisition of the contentdistributed from the server.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a transmission and reception system, including a transmissionapparatus adapted to distribute a content, and a reception apparatusadapted to acquire the content distributed from the transmissionapparatus, the transmission apparatus including question generationmeans for generating question information representative of a questionregarding liking of a user of the reception apparatus, and transmissionmeans for transmitting the question information and provider side answerinformation in the form of a bit string representative of an answer setby a provider which provides the content to the question regarding theliking of the user to the reception apparatus, the reception apparatusincluding answer generation means for generating user side answerinformation in the form of a bit string representative of an answer ofthe user to the question in response to the question informationtransmitted from the transmission apparatus, and matching means forcarrying out matching between the user side answer information and theprovider side answer information transmitted from the transmissionapparatus to determine acquisition of the content distributed from thetransmission apparatus.

In the transmission and reception system, question informationrepresentative of a question regarding liking of a user of the receptionapparatus is generated. Then, the question information and provider sideanswer information in the form of a bit string representative of ananswer set by a provider which provides the content to the questionregarding the liking of the user is transmitted to the receptionapparatus. User side answer information in the form of a bit stringrepresentative of an answer of the user to the question is generated inresponse to the question information transmitted to the receptionapparatus from the transmission apparatus. Then, matching between thegenerated user side answer information and the provider side answerinformation transmitted from the transmission apparatus is carried outto determine acquisition of the content distributed from thetransmission apparatus.

With the transmission apparatus and method, reception apparatus andmethod, and transmission and reception system, it becomes possible toacquire a content which satisfies needs at the time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of abroadcasting system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configurationof a server;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of theserver;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a client;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of syntax of the XML schema;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an example of a PDI-Q;

FIGS. 8 to 12 are schematic views showing different examples of screenimage display in interaction with a user;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an example of a PDI-A;

FIGS. 14 and 15 are views illustrating different examples of a providerside PDI-A;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing another example of a functionalconfiguration of the server;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating different content transmission andreception processes in the broadcasting system which includes the serverof FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing another example of a functionalconfiguration of the client;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses in the broadcasting system of FIG. 1 which includes the clientof FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an example of a broadcasting systemfor broadcasting by an ATSC-M/H method to which the present invention isapplied;

FIG. 21 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a protocol stack of a signalof a carrier transmitted by the ATSC-M/H method;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a data configuration of ServiceGuide;

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating a configuration of a Service fragment;

FIG. 24 is a view illustrating a configuration of a Schedule fragment;

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating a configuration of a Content fragment;

FIG. 26 is a view illustrating a configuration of an Interactivity Datafragment;

FIG. 27 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a protocol stack of a signalof a carrier transmitted by NRT broadcasting;

FIG. 28 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a data structure of TVCT,PAT, PMT and DSM-CC Addressable Section;

FIG. 29 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a data structure of SMT,NRT-IT and FLUTE FDT;

FIG. 30 is a view illustrating an example of syntax of a PDI descriptor;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a server according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a client according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 33 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses of the server of FIG. 31 and the client of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a view illustrating another example of syntax of the XMLschema;

FIG. 35 is a flow chart illustrating details of a PDI-S executionprocess illustrated in FIG. 33;

FIGS. 36 to 40 are schematic views showing different examples of screenimage display in interaction with a user different from those of FIGS. 8to 12;

FIG. 41 is a view illustrating an example of a user side PDI-A;

FIGS. 42 and 43 are views illustrating different examples of a providerside PDI-A different from those of FIGS. 14 and 15;

FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing another example of a functionalconfiguration of the server different from that of FIG. 31;

FIG. 45 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses of the server of FIG. 44 and the client of FIG. 32;

FIG. 46 is a block diagram showing another example of a functionalconfiguration of a client which is a modification to that of FIG. 32;

FIG. 47 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses of the server of FIG. 44 and the client of FIG. 46;

FIG. 48 is a flow chart illustrating details of a PDI-S executionprocess of FIG. 47;

FIG. 49 is a view illustrating different syntax of the InteractivityData fragment;

FIG. 50 is a view illustrating another example of the PDI descriptor;

FIG. 51 is a block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a server according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 52 is a block diagram showing an example of a functionalconfiguration of a client according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 53 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses of the server of FIG. 51 and the client of FIG. 52;

FIGS. 54 and 55 are views illustrating a further example of syntax ofthe XML schema;

FIG. 56 is a view illustrating another example of the PDI-Q;

FIG. 57 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an example of mapping of aPDI-BA;

FIG. 58 is a block diagram showing a different example of a functionalconfiguration of a server which is a modification to that of FIG. 51;

FIG. 59 is a block diagram showing a different example of a functionalconfiguration of a client which is a modification to that of FIG. 52;

FIG. 60 is a flow chart illustrating content transmission and receptionprocesses of the server of FIG. 58 and the client of FIG. 59;

FIG. 61 is a flow chart illustrating details of a PDI-S executionprocess of FIG. 60;

FIG. 62 is a view illustrating another configuration of the Servicefragment;

FIG. 63 is a view illustrating another configuration of the Schedulefragment;

FIG. 64 is a view illustrating another configuration of the Contentfragment; and

FIG. 65 is a view illustrating a further example of syntax of the PDIdescriptor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be notedthat the description is carried out in the following order.

1. First Embodiment

2. Second Embodiment

3. Third Embodiment

1. First Embodiment Example of the Configuration of the BroadcastingSystem

FIG. 1 shows an example of a configuration of a broadcasting systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

The broadcasting system 10 of FIG. 1 is configured from a server 11provided on the provider side such as a broadcasting company whichbroadcasts or provides a digital television program (hereinafterreferred to suitably as content) and a client terminal (hereinafterreferred to simply as client) 12 installed in a home of a user whoenjoys broadcast contents. It is to be noted that, while the client 12is installed in a plurality of user homes, the client 12 can beconfigured also as a portable terminal apparatus such as a portabletelephone set or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

In the broadcasting system 10, the server 11 transmits a contenttogether with content metadata regarding the content as a signal of adigital broadcasting wave to the client 12. The client 12 carries outfiltering of the content based on the content metadata transmittedthereto together with the content so that only the content desired bythe user is reproduced or accumulated. It is to be noted that thecontent metadata may not be transmitted together with the content butmay be transmitted before the content is transmitted.

Example of the Hardware Configuration of the Server

FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration of the server 11.Referring to FIG. 2, the server 11 is configured, for example, using acomputer as a base.

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 executes various processes inaccordance with a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 or aprogram loaded from a storage section 28 into a RAM (Random AccessMemory) 23. Data necessary for executing various processes by the CPU 21and so forth are suitably stored into the RAM 23.

The CPU 21, ROM 22 and RAM 23 are connected to each other through a bus24. Also an input/output interface 25 is connected to the bus 24.

To the input/output interface 25, an inputting section 26 configuredfrom a keyboard, a mouse and so forth, an outputting section 27configured from a display unit such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) unit or the like, a speaker and so forth, thestorage section 28 configured from a hard disk and so forth and acommunication section 29 configured from a modem, a terminal adapter andso forth are connected. The communication section 29 communicates withan external apparatus through a network not shown. Further, a programmay be acquired through the communication section 29 and stored into thestorage section 28.

Further, a drive unit 30 is connected to the input/output interface 25as occasion demands and a removable medium 31 such as a magnetic disk,an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk or a semiconductor memory issuitably loaded into to the input/output interface 25. A computerprogram read out from such a removable medium as just described isinstalled into the storage section 28 as occasion demands.

It is to be noted that, though not shown, the hardware of the client 12is configured similarly to the server 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

Example of the Functional Configuration of the Server

Next, an example of a functional configuration of the server 11 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 3.

The server 11 is configured from a PDI-Q generator 41, a transmissionsection 42, a PDI-A generator 43, a metadata distributor 44, a contentaccumulation section 45 and a content distributor 46.

The PDI-Q generator 41 generates a PDI-Q (Preference Demographic andInterest-Question) which is information representative of questionsregarding the liking of the user or viewer of the client 12. Then, thePDI-Q generator 41 transmits the generated PDI-Q to the client 12through the transmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-Q to the PDI-Agenerator 43.

The transmission section 42 transmits various data supplied thereto fromthe PDI-Q generator 41, metadata distributor 44 and content distributor46 to the client 12.

The PDI-A generator 43 generates, based on the PDI-Q from the PDI-Qgenerator 41, a PDI-A (Preference Demographic and Interest-Answer) whichis information representative of an answer set on the provider side tothe questions regarding the liking of the user of the client 12described above and corresponds to the PDI-Q. The PDI-A generator 43supplies the generated PDI-A to the metadata distributor 44.

The metadata distributor 44 specifies or refers to a contentcorresponding to the answer set on the provider side from among contentsaccumulated in the content accumulation section 45 based on the PDI-Afrom the PDI-A generator 43. The metadata distributor 44 generatescontent metadata including the PDI-A as content metadata of thespecified content and transmits the generated data to the client 12through the transmission section 42.

The content accumulation section 45 accumulates various contents to bedistributed to the client 12.

The content distributor 46 acquires the content specified by themetadata distributor 44 from among the contents accumulated in thecontent accumulation section 45 and transmits the acquired content tothe client 12 through the transmission section 42.

Example of the Functional Configuration of the Client

Next, an example of a functional configuration of the client 12 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 4.

The client 12 is configured from a reception section 51, a PDI-Agenerator 52, a PDI-A storage section 53, a content filter 54, a contentreproduction section 55 and a content accumulation section 56.

The reception section 51 receives various data transmitted from theserver 11 and supplies the received data to the PDI-A generator 52 orthe content filter 54.

The PDI-A generator 52 generates, based on the PDI-Q transmitted fromthe server 11, a PDI-A which indicates answers of the user to questionsregarding the liking of the user of the client 12 and corresponds to thePDI-Q to supply to the PDI-A storage section 53.

The PDI-A storage section 53 stores the PDI-A from the PDI-A generator52. The PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53 is suitably readout to the content filter 54.

The content filter 54 reads out the PDI-A from the PDI-A storage section53 and carries out filtering of the content based on the read out PDI-Aand a PDI-A included in content metadata of the content received fromthe server 11. The content filter 54 supplies the filtered content tothe content reproduction section 55 or the content accumulation section56 in response to a result of the filtering.

The content reproduction section 55 reproduces the content from thecontent filter 54. Further, the content reproduction section 55 acquiresthe content from the content accumulation section 56 and reproduces theacquired content.

The content accumulation section 56 accumulates or records the contentfrom the content filter 54.

Example of the Transmission and Reception Processes of a Content

Next, transmission and reception processes of a content in thebroadcasting system 10 are described with reference to a flow chart ofFIG. 5. In the content transmission and reception processes of thebroadcasting system 10, a content is distributed by executing a contentdistribution process by the server 11 and is acquired by executing acontent acquisition process by the client 12.

On the case where, on the provider side such as a broadcasting company,for example, a sponsor of a content to be broadcast or distributed orthe broadcasting company itself requests distribution of a content for aviewer having a specific liking or a specific attribute, the PDI-Qgenerator 41 of the server 11 generates, at step S11, a PDI-Q forinquiring about what liking or attribute the user has to the viewer,that is, to the user of the client 12, in response to operation of thestaff on the provider side.

Example of the Syntax of the XML Schema

Here, an example of the syntax of the XML (Extensible Markup Language)schema for configuring a PDI-Q and a PDI-A is described with referenceto FIG. 6.

In FIG. 6, the first row indicates a declaration or a definition foridentifying the PDI-Q, and the second row indicates a name of the entirequestions defined as the PDI-Q and a declaration of the type.

The third to twelfth rows indicate a name and a declaration of the typeregarding the individual questions declared in the second row. Inparticular, the type “IntegerAnswerType” of a question defined by thename “QIA” in the fifth row indicates that the question requests aninteger value type answer, and the type “BooleanAnswerType” of thequestion defined by the name “QBA” in the sixth row indicates that thequestion requests a logical value type answer. Further, the type“SelectionAnswerType” of the question defined by the name “QSA” in theseventh row indicates that the question requests an answer selectiontype answer, and the type “TextAnswerType” of the question defined bythe name “QTA” in the eighth row indicates that the question requests acharacter column type answer. Further, the type “AnyAnswerType” of thequestion defined by the name “QAA” in the ninth row indicates that thequestion does not the type of an answer thereto.

The thirteenth to 44th rows indicate declarations of elements of thequestions defined by the names “QIA,” “QBA,” “QSA” and “QTA” from amongthe questions declared as described above. Particularly, id elementsindicated in the 15th, 24th, 31st and 40th rows indicate IDs(Identifiers) for identifying items of the questions, and are defined asgiven below as a first format:

“common:[category:]question-ID”

In the first format, the term “common” indicates that the questionidentified by the id element is a question commonly definedindependently of the provider, and the term “category” indicates acategory of the question and the term “question-ID” indicates anidentifier of the question. It is to be noted that the term “category”may be represented, as occasion demands, in a hierarchical neststructure like:

“common:[category1:category2:category3: . . . ] question-ID”

Further, the id element is defined as given below as a second format:

“providerName:[category:]question-ID”

In the second format, the term “providerName” indicates a name of theprovider by which the question identified by the id element is set. Itis to be noted that the term “category” and the term “question-ID” aresimilar to those in the first format.

In this manner, the questions defined as the PDI-Q are distinguished,depending upon the id element, into those questions independent of theprovider which provides contents and common to providers and thosequestions defined uniquely by the provider which provides the content.

A question independent of the provider which provide a content and ananswer to the question are hereinafter referred to suitably as providercommon filtering parameter, and a question defined uniquely by theprovider which provides a content and an answer to the question arehereinafter referred to suitably as provider unique filtering parameter.

As described above, since the provider common filtering parameter isdefined commonly by providers without depending upon individualproviders, generally the provider common filtering parameter is providedby a vender, that is, by a maker or the like, of the client 12.Accordingly, although the PDI-Q generator 41 in the server 11 can bemade so as to be provided by the provider side, it may otherwise be madeso as to be provided by the vender of the client 12.

It is to be noted that the syntax which configures the PDI-Q and thePDI-A is not limited to that of the example illustrated in FIG. 6.

Example of the PDI-Q

Next, an example of the PDI-Q configured based on the syntax of FIG. 6is described with reference to FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, the term “transactional” in the first row is a value whichindicates whether or not a recording/updating process is to be rolledback. In particular, when the questions, that is, the question group,defined by the PDI-Q are updated in the client 12 to which the questionsare transmitted, all of the substance of the items of the PDI-Q may notbe recorded/updated because of some accident such as disk writing erroror interruption of a processing by increase of the processing loadmidway of processing for recording/updating the substance of the itemsof the PDI-Q into a storage region not shown of the client 12. If all ofthe substance of the items of the PDI-Q is not recorded/updated, thenthe recording/updating process may be invalidated, that is, a rollbackprocess may be carried out, going back to a state just before therecording/updating of the substance of the items of the PDI-Q. Thus,whether such rollback process should be carried out is represented by“transactional.” In the case where “transactional” is “true,” the PDI-Qis rolled back.

The second to fifth rows define a question for requesting a logic valuetype answer, and <id>Common:111</id> in the third row indicates an idelement of the question and <q>Are you currently employed?</q> in thefourth row indicates the question itself.

The sixth to ninth rows define a question for requesting an integervalue type answer, and <id>Common:222</id> in the seventh row indicatesan id element of the question and <q>What is the age of the oldestmember of the household who watches television?</q> in the eighth rowindicates the question itself. It is to be noted thatminInclusive=“10”maxInclusive=“100” in the sixth row indicates that ananswer to the request is restricted to an integer value from 10 or moreto 100 or less.

The tenth to 17th rows define a question for requesting an answerselection type answer, and <id>ProviderA:123</id> in the eleventh rowindicates an id element of the question and <q>In which of the followingsports are you most interested? (Multiple selection allowed)</q>indicates the question itself. Further, <a>Baseball</a> in the 13th row,<a>Basketball</a> in the 14th row, <a>Soccer</a> in the 15th row and<a>Hockey</a> in the 16th row individually indicate choices for ananswer to the question. It is to be noted that minChoice=“1”maxChoice=“3” in the tenth row indicates that the number of answers tothe question is restricted from one to three from among the choices.

The eighteenth to 24th rows define a question for requesting an answerselection type answer, and <id>ProviderA:ProgramX:123</id> in the 19throw indicates an id element of the question and <q>Do you enjoy campingand outdoor recreation? (Only one selection)</q> in the 20th rowindicates the question itself. Further, <a>Never</a> in the 21st row,<a>Occasionally</a> in the 22nd row and <a>Frequently</a> in the 23rdrow individually indicate the choices of an answer to the question. Itis to be noted that maxChoice=“1” in the 18th row indicates that thenumber of answers to the question is restricted to one.

In this manner, in the PDI-Q, also candidates for the answer to thequestion and restriction conditions for the answer are defined dependingupon the type of the question.

The 25th to 28th rows define a question for requesting a charactercolumn type answer, and <id>ProviderA:321</id> indicates an id elementof the question in the 26th row and <q>Who's products are you mostinterested in recently?</q> in the 27th row indicates the questionitself.

In the following description, the questions defined by the PDI-Q in FIG.7 are referred to as questions of id elements. In particular, thequestion defined in the second to fifth rows is distinguished as aquestion of “Common:111” and the question defined in the sixth to ninthrows is distinguished as a question of “Common:222.” Further, thequestion defined in the tenth to 17th rows is distinguished as aquestion of “ProviderA:123,” and the question defined in the 18th to24th rows is distinguished as a question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”Furthermore, the question defined in the 25th to 28th rows isdistinguished as a question of “ProviderA:321.”

At this time, the question of “Common:111” and the question of“Common:222” are distinguished as the provider common filteringparameter, and the question of “ProviderA:123,” question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123” and question of “ProviderA:321” aredistinguished as the provider unique filtering parameter. For example,the question of “Common:111” indicates a question set commonly toproviders and having the identifier “111,” and the question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123” indicates a question set by the provider of“ProviderA” and whose category or program ID is “ProgramX” andidentifier is “123.”

Referring back to the flow chart in FIG. 5, at step S12, the PDI-Qgenerator 41 of the server 11 transmits the generated PDI-Q to theclient 12 through the transmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-Q tothe PDI-A generator 43.

At step S21, the reception section 51 of the client 12 receives thePDI-Q transmitted from the server 11 and supplies the received PDI-Q tothe PDI-A generator 52.

It is to be noted that the PDI-Q is received by the client 12, forexample, every time broadcasting or transmission is carried out after apredetermined interval of time from the broadcasting station as theprovider in which the server 11 is installed. Or, the PDI-Q may bereceived by the client 12 when the channel is set to that of thebroadcasting station in which the server 11 is installed.

At step S22, the PDI-A generator 52 of the client 12 generates a PDI-Ato the questions defined by the PDI-Q received by the reception section51. In particular, if the PDI-Q from the server 11 is received, then thePDI-A generator 52 causes a display section not shown to display ascreen image corresponding to each question defined by the PDI-Q andcauses the user or viewer of the client 12 to input or select an answerto the question so that a PDI-A which indicates the answer to thequestion is generated. In particular, the PDI-A generator 52 interactswith the user to generate the PDI-A which indicates the answer to thequestion defined by the PDI-Q.

Example of the Screen Image Display in Communication with the User bythe PDI-A Generator

Here, an example of screen image display in communication with the userby the PDI-A generator 52 is described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.It is to be noted that it is assumed here that the client 12 receivesthe PDI-Q described with reference to FIG. 7, and screen imagescorresponding to the question group defined by the received PDI-Q aresuccessively displayed on the display section not shown of the client12.

FIG. 8 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “Common:111” from among the questions defined by the PDI-Qdescribed hereinabove with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 8, the questionof “Are you currently employed?” indicated in the fourth row in FIG. 7is displayed in a question presentation region 61. Further, the messageof “choose one” for urging the user to input an answer to the question,a selection button 62-1 for urging the user to select “Yes” as theanswer to the question and another selection button 62-2 for urging theuser to select “No” as the answer to the question are displayed.

FIG. 9 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “Common:222” from among the questions defined by the PDI-Qdescribed hereinabove with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 9, the questionof “What is the age of the oldest member of the household who watchestelevision?” indicated in the eighth row in FIG. 7 is displayed in aquestion presentation region 71. Further, a message “enter age” forurging the user to input an answer to the question and an answerinputting region 72 for urging the user to input an integer value as theanswer to the question are displayed.

FIG. 10 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” from among the questions defined by thePDI-Q described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 10, thequestion of “In which of the following sports are you most interested?(Multiple selection allowed)” indicated in the twelfth row in FIG. 7 isdisplayed in a question presentation region 81. Further, the message of“choose one to three answers” for urging the user to input an answer tothe question and selection buttons 82-1 to 82-4 for urging the user toselect the choices of “Baseball,” “Basketball,” “Soccer” and “Hockey” asthe answer to the question are displayed.

FIG. 11 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123” from among the questions defined bythe PDI-Q described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 11,the question of “Do you enjoy camping and outdoor recreation? (Only oneselection)” indicated in the 20th row in FIG. 7 is displayed in aquestion presentation region 91. Further, the message of “choose one”for urging the user to input an answer to the question and selectionbuttons 92-1 to 92-3 for urging the user to select the choices of“Never,” “Occasionally” and “Frequently” as the answer to the questionare displayed.

FIG. 12 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:321” from among the questions defined by thePDI-Q described with reference to FIG. 7. In FIG. 12, the question of“Who's products are you most interested in recently?” indicated in the27th row in FIG. 7 is displayed in a question presentation region 101.Further, the message of “write anything” for urging the user to input ananswer to the question and an answer inputting region 102 for urging theuser to input a character string as the answer to the question aredisplayed.

In this manner, the PDI-A generator 52 urges the user to input or selectan answer to the questions defined by the PDI-Q in accordance with thescreen image display described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12 so thatthe PDI-A corresponding to the PDI-Q is generated.

It is to be noted that the screen image display described with referenceto FIGS. 8 to 12 may be carried out just after the PDI-Q is received ormay be carried out when, after the PDI-Q is received and retained intothe storage section not shown, an instruction to display a settingscreen image is issued by the user.

Example of the PDI-A

Here, an example of the PDI-A generated by the PDI-A generator 52 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 13. The PDI-A shown in FIG. 13 isgenerated based on selection or inputting of answers by the user to thescreen image display described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

In particular, the second to fifth rows indicate an answer of the userto the question presented by the screen image display describedhereinabove with reference to FIG. 8. In particular, <id>Common:111</id>in the third row indicates an id element of the question presented bythe screen image display described with reference to FIG. 8, and<a>true</a> in the fourth row indicates that the selection button 62-1for the answer of “Yes” in the displaying screen image in FIG. 8 isselected as the answer to the question by the user.

The sixth to ninth rows indicate an answer of the user to the questionpresented by the screen image display described with reference to FIG.9. In particular, <id>Common:222</id> in the seventh row indicates an idelement of the question presented by the screen image display in FIG. 9,and <a>34</a> in the eighth row indicates that an integer value “34” isinputted as the answer to the question by the user to the answerinputting region 72 in the screen image display in FIG. 9.

The tenth to 15th rows indicate an answer of the user to the questionpresented by the screen image display described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 10. In particular, <id>ProviderA:123</id> in theeleventh row indicates an id element of the question presented by thescreen image display in FIG. 10, and <a>Baseball</a> in the 12th row,<a>Soccer</a> in the 13th row and <a>Hockey</a> in the 14th row indicatethat the selection buttons 82-1, 82-3 and 82-4 are selected as theanswer to the question by the user in the screen display in FIG. 10,respectively.

The 16th to 19th rows indicate an answer of the user to the questionpresented by the screen image display described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 11. In particular, <id>ProviderA:ProgramX:123</id> inthe 17th row indicates an id element of the question presented by thescreen image display in FIG. 11, and <a>Occasionally</a> in the 18th rowindicates that the selection button 92-2 is selected as the answer tothe question by the user in the screen image display in FIG. 11.

The 20th to 23rd rows indicate an answer of the user to the questionpresented by the screen image display described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 12. In particular, <id>ProviderA:321</id> on the 21strow indicates the id element of the question presented by the screenimage display of FIG. 12. Meanwhile, <a>Somy</a> on the 22nd rowindicates that “Somy” is inputted as a character string to the answerinputting region 102 on the screen image display of FIG. 12 by the useras an answer to the question.

The PDI-A generator 52 supplies the PDI-A generated in this manner tothe PDI-A storage section 53 so as to be stored. The PDI-A stored in thePDI-A storage section 53 is used when the content distributed from theserver 11 conforms to the liking of the user of the client 12 ashereinafter described.

Referring back to the flow chart of FIG. 5, at step S13, the PDI-Agenerator 43 of the server 11 generates a PDI-A to the questions definedin the PDI-Q from the PDI-Q generator 41 and supplies the generatedPDI-A to the metadata distributor 44. More particularly, if a PDI-Q isgenerated by an operation of the staff of the broadcasting station orprovider side, then the PDI-A generator 43 causes the display sectionnot shown to display such screen images which correspond to thequestions defined in the PDI-Q as described hereinabove with referenceto FIGS. 8 to 12. Then, the PDI-A generator 43 causes the staff of thebroadcasting station to input or select answers to the questions togenerate a PDI-A representative of the answers. At this time, the staffof the broadcasting station would input or select answers correspondingto the content to be distributed as answers to the questions defined inthe PDI-Q. In other words, the PDI-A generated by the PDI-A generator 43represents information, that is, answers, generated by the provider sidetaking the liking of the user or viewer of the client 12 intoconsideration, for allowing the viewer to enjoy a content to bedistributed later.

At step S14, the metadata distributor 44 specifies or refers to acontent corresponding to the PDI-A from among the contents accumulatedin the content accumulation section 45 based on the PDI-A from the PDI-Agenerator 43. The content specified here may be a content with regard towhich the similarity between the PDI-A from the PDI-A generator 43 andthe content metadata applied in advance to the accumulated content ishigher than a predetermined value or may be a content selected inadvance as a content desirable to be viewed by the user by the staff ofthe broadcasting station. It is to be noted that the content specifiedby the metadata distributor 44 is acquired from the content accumulationsection 45 by the content distributor 46.

At step S15, the metadata distributor 44 newly generates, based on thecontent metadata applied in advance to the content specified at step S15and the PDI-A from the PDI-A generator 43, content metadata includingthe PDI-A.

At step S16, the transmission section 42 distributes the contentacquired by the content distributor 46 together with the contentmetadata generated by the metadata distributor 44. At this time, as thecontent metadata, content metadata prescribed by a standardizationorganization may be transmitted in addition to the content metadatagenerated by the metadata distributor 44.

In this manner, a content whose content metadata includes a PDI-Arepresentative of answers intended by the provider side as the answersto the questions defined in the PDI-Q, or in other words, a contentwhich conforms to the liking of the user and whose viewing is expectedby the provider side, is distributed.

It is to be noted that the processes at steps S13 to S16 need not beexecuted immediately after the process at step S12, but may be executedbefore a PDI-A is generated and stored in the client 12 owned by eachuser.

Further, while, at step S16, the content is distributed together withthe content metadata, the content may not be distributed together withthe content metadata, but after the content metadata including the PDI-Ais transmitted in advance to the client 12, the content corresponding tothe content metadata may be distributed.

After the content and the content metadata are distributed from theserver 11 in this manner, at step S23, the reception section 51 of theclient 12 receives the content and the content metadata distributed fromthe server 11 and supplies them to the content filter 54.

At step S24, the content filter 54 carries out matching between thePDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53 and the PDI-A included inthe content metadata from the server 11. It is to be noted that, inorder to distinguish the PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53and the PDI-A included in the content metadata from the server 11 fromeach other, the former is hereinafter referred to as user side PDI-A andthe latter is hereinafter referred to as provider side PDI-A.

Example of the Matching Process by the Content Filter

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 13 is generated and stored as the user side PDI-A and the PDI-Aillustrated in FIG. 14 is transmitted as the provider side PDI-A fromthe server 11.

The provider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 14 has a basically similarconfiguration to that of the user side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 13, andtherefore, overlapping description of the provider side PDI-A is omittedherein to avoid redundancy. However, the provider side PDI-A illustratedin FIG. 14 indicates that “false” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “Common:111” and “Baseball” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” and besides “Never” is selected as an answerto the question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

At this time, the content filter 54 compares the user side PDI-A and theprovider side PDI-A with each other. Then, if the user side PDI-A andthe provider side PDI-A exhibit coincidence with regard the answers toat least one question, then the content filter 54 decides that the userside PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A match with each other. However,if the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A exhibit nocoincidence with regard to the answers to any question, then the contentfilter 54 decides that the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-Ado not match with each other. In the present case, the answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” in the user side PDI-A illustrated in FIG.13 and the answer to the question of “ProviderA:123” in the providerside PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 14 coincide with each other in that bothof them include “Baseball.” Therefore, it is decided that the user sidePDI-A and the provider side PDI-A match with each other.

Then, it is assumed that a PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 15 is transmittedas the provider side PDI-A from the server 11.

The provider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 15 indicates that“Basketball” is selected as an answer to the question of “ProviderA:123”and “Never” is selected as an answer to the question of “ProviderA:123.”

In this instance, since the answers to the questions in the user sidePDI-A illustrated in FIG. 13 and the answers to the questions in theprovider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 15 do not coincide with eachother at all, it is decided that the user side PDI-A and the providerside PDI-A do not match with each other.

The content filter 54 carries out the matching process between the userside PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A in this manner.

At step S25, the content filter 54 decides whether or not the user sidePDI-A and the provider side PDI-A match with each other. If it isdecided at step S25 that the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-Amatch with each other, then the content filter 54 decides that thecontent distributed from the server 11 conforms to the liking of theuser or viewer of the client 12. Thus, the content filter 54 suppliesthe content to the content reproduction section 55 or the contentaccumulation section 56, and then the processing advances to step S26.

If the content distributed from the server 11 is supplied from thecontent filter 54 to the content reproduction section 55, then thecontent reproduction section 55 reproduces the content at step S26. Onthe other hand, if the content distributed from the server 11 issupplied from the content filter 54 to the content accumulation section56, then the content accumulation section 56 accumulates or records thecontent at step S26. The accumulated content is suitably supplied to andreproduced by the content reproduction section 55 in response to anoperation instruction of the user.

On the other hand, if it is decided at step S25 that the user side PDI-Aand the provider side PDI-A do not match with each other, then thecontent filter 54 decides that the content distributed from the server11 does not conform to the liking of the user or viewer of the client12. Then, the content filter 54 abandons or deletes the content, and theprocessing is ended.

According to the process described above, in the broadcasting system, onthe provider side, the server generates a PDI-Q representative ofquestions regarding the liking of the user, and the PDI-Q is transmittedto the client terminal. Further, a provider side PDI-A representative ofanswers set by the provider side to the PDI-Q is distributed as metadataof the corresponding content. Consequently, as content metadata, contentmetadata in accordance with needs at the time other than contentmetadata prescribed by a standardization organization can be applied toa content. On the other hand, on the user side, the client terminalgenerates a user side PDI-A representative of answers of the user to thePDI-Q from the server. Then, matching between the generated user sidePDI-A and the provider side PDI-A from the server is carried out todetermine whether or not the content distributed from the server shouldbe acquired. Consequently, a content can be filtered with contentmetadata which satisfies needs at the time other than content metadataprescribed by a standardization organization. Accordingly, a contentwhich satisfies current needs can be acquired.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, the client12 carries out matching between the PDI-As on the real time basis upondistribution of a content from the server 11, all contents may beaccumulated upon distribution of such contents from the server 11. Inthis instance, matching between the PDI-As may be carried out on thebackground of the processing such that a content corresponding to amatched PDI-A, that is, a matched provider side PDI-A, from among theaccumulated contents is reproduced or a content which corresponds to anyPDI-A which does not match is deleted.

Further, in the foregoing description, the content filter 54 compares auser side PDI-A and a provider side PDI-A represented as instances, andmatching between the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A iscarried out depending upon whether or not answers to at least onequestion coincide with each other. However, the user side PDI-A and theprovider side PDI-A may be compared with each other by representing oneof the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A as a query forevaluating the PDI-A.

In the following, a configuration for comparing a user side PDI-A and aprovider side PDI-A with each other by representing one of the user sidePDI-A and the provider side PDI-A as a query is described.

Example 1 of the Matching Process by an Query for Evaluating a PDI-A

First, a configuration for representing a provider side PDI-A as a queryand comparing a user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A with eachother is described.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a functional configuration of the server 11which represents a provider side PDI-A as a query.

Referring to FIG. 16, the server 11 shown includes a PDI-Q generator 41,a transmission section 42, a content accumulation section 45, a contentdistributor 46, a PDI-A query generator 111 and a metadata distributor112.

It is to be noted that, in the server 11 of FIG. 16, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 11of FIG. 3 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the server 11 of FIG. 16 is different from the server 11of FIG. 3 in that it includes the PDI-A query generator 111 and themetadata distributor 112 in place of the PDI-A generator 43 and themetadata distributor 44.

The PDI-A query generator 111 generates, based on a PDI-Q from the PDI-Qgenerator 41, a PDI-A corresponding to the PDI-Q, that is, a providerside PDI-A, applies the generated provider side PDI-A to a predeterminedconditional statement to generate a PDI-A query and supplies the PDI-Aquery to the metadata distributor 112.

The metadata distributor 112 specifies or refers to, based on the PDI-Aquery from the PDI-A query generator 111, a content corresponding to thePDI-A query from among contents accumulated in the content accumulationsection 45. The metadata distributor 112 generates content metadataincluding the PDI-A query as content metadata of the specified contentand transmits the generated content metadata to the client 12 throughthe transmission section 42.

In the client 12 in the present example, the content filter 54 shown inFIG. 4 reads out a PDI-A, that is, a user side PDI-A, from the PDI-Astorage section 53, and filters the content based on the read out userside PDI-A and the PDI-A query included in the content metadatatransmitted from the server 11 to the client 12. Except this, the client12 is same as the client 12 of FIG. 4, and therefore, overlappingdescription of the same is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

Now, content transmission and reception processes of the broadcastingsystem 10 which includes the server 11 of FIG. 16 are described withreference to a flow chart of FIG. 17.

It is to be noted that processes at steps S31, S32, S36, S41 to S43, S45and S46 of the flow chart of FIG. 17 are basically similar to theprocesses at steps S11, S12, S16, S21 to S23, S25 and S26 of the flowchart of FIG. 5, respectively. Therefore, overlapping description ofthem is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

In particular, at step S33, the PDI-A query generator 111 of the server11 generates a provider side PDI-A to questions defined by the PDI-Qfrom the PDI-Q generator 41 and applies the generated provider sidePDI-A to a predetermined conditional statement to generate a PDI-Aquery. Then, the PDI-A query generator 111 supplies the generated PDI-Aquery to the metadata distributor 112. In particular, for example, if aPDI-Q is generated by an operation of staff of a broadcasting station,that is, the provider side, then the PDI-A query generator 111 causesthe display section not shown to successively display such screen imagescorresponding to the questions defined by the PDI-Q as describedhereinabove with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12. Then, the PDI-A querygenerator 111 causes the staff of the broadcasting station to input orselect answers to the questions and causes the staff to determine acombination of the answers, that is, a filtering condition, to generatea PDI-A query representative of the combination of the answers. At thistime, the staff of the broadcasting station would input or selectanswers corresponding to a content to be distributed as answers to thequestions defined in the PDI-Q and then determine a combination of theanswers. In other words, the PDI-A query generated by the PDI-A querygenerator 111 represents information, that is, a combination of answers,generated by the provider side taking a liking of a user or viewer ofthe client 12 into consideration, for allowing the viewer to enjoy acontent to be distributed later.

At step S34, the metadata distributor 112 specifies or refers to, basedon the PDI-A query from the PDI-A query generator 111, a contentcorresponding to the PDI-A query from among the contents accumulated inthe content accumulation section 45. The content specified here may be acontent with regard to which the similarity between the PDI-A query fromthe PDI-A query generator 111 and the content metadata applied inadvance to the accumulated content is higher than a predetermined valueor may be a content selected in advance as a content desirable to beenjoyed by the user by the staff of the broadcasting station. It is tobe noted that the content specified by the metadata distributor 112 isacquired from the content accumulation section 45 by the contentdistributor 46.

At step S35, the metadata distributor 112 newly generates, based on thecontent metadata applied in advance to the content specified at step S34and the PDI-A query from the PDI-A query generator 111, content metadataincluding the PDI-A query.

Then, at step S44, the content filter 54 of the client 12 carries outmatching of the PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53 based onthe PDI-A query included in the content metadata from the server 11.

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 13 is generated and stored as the user side PDI-A and a PDI-Aquery indicated below has been transmitted from the server 11.

“//QBA[id=‘Common:111’ and a=‘true’] and //QSA[id=‘ProviderA:123’ anda=‘Baseball’]”

The PDI-A query given above indicates that the user side PDI-A evaluateswhether “true” is selected as the answer to the question of “Common:111”and “Baseball” is selected as an answer to the question of“ProviderA:123.”

At this time, the content filter 54 evaluates the user side PDI-A basedon the PDI-A query. Then, if the user side PDI-A satisfies the PDI-Aquery, that is, is true, then the content filter 54 decides that theuser side PDI-A and the PDI-A query match with each other, but if thePDI-A query is not satisfied, that is, is false, then the content filter54 decides that the user side PDI-A and the PDI-A query do not matchwith each other. In this instance, in the user side PDI-A illustrated inFIG. 13, since “true” is selected as an answer to the question of“Common:111” and besides “Baseball” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123,” it is decided that the user side PDI-A andthe PDI-A query match with each other.

Since a more complicated filtering condition is represented by a PDI-Aquery set by the provider side in this manner, the provider side canallow a user or viewer who is expected to view a content by the providerto acquire a content.

Example 2 of the Matching Process by a Query for Evaluating a PDI-A

Now, a configuration which represents a user side PDI-A as a query tocompare the user side PDI-A and a provider side PDI-A with each other isdescribed.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a functional configuration of the client 12which represents a user side PDI-A as a query.

The client 12 of FIG. 18 includes a reception section 51, a contentfilter 54, a content reproduction section 55, a content accumulationsection 56, a PDI-A query generator 131, and a PDI-A query storagesection 132.

It is to be noted that, in the client 12 of FIG. 18, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the client 12of FIG. 4 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the client 12 of FIG. 18 is different from the client 12of FIG. 4 in that it includes the PDI-A query generator 131 and thePDI-A query storage section 132 in place of the PDI-A generator 52 andthe PDI-A storage section 53.

The PDI-A query generator 131 generates, based on a PDI-Q transmittedthereto from the server 11, a PDI-A, that is, a user side PDI-A,corresponding to the PDI-Q and representative of answers of a user toquestions about the liking of the user of the client 12. Then, the PDI-Aquery generator 131 applies the generated user side PDI-A to apredetermined conditional statement to generate a PDI-A query andsupplies the generated PDI-A query to the PDI-A query storage section132.

The PDI-A query storage section 132 stores the PDI-A query from thePDI-A query generator 131. The PDI-A query stored in the PDI-A querystorage section 132 is read out suitably into the content filter 54.

It is to be noted that the content filter 54 of FIG. 18 reads out thePDI-A query from the PDI-A storage section 53 and filters the contentbased on the read out PDI-A query and the provider side PDI-A includedin the content metadata transmitted thereto from the server 11.

The server 11 in the present example is same as the server 11 shown inFIG. 3, and therefore, overlapping description thereof is omitted hereinto avoid redundancy.

Now, content transmission and reception processes of the broadcastingsystem 10 which includes the client 12 of FIG. 18 are described withreference to a flow chart of FIG. 19.

It is to be noted that processes at steps S51 to S61, S63, S65 and S66of the flow chart of FIG. 19 are basically similar to the processes atsteps S11 to S21, S23, S25 and S26, respectively, and therefore,overlapping description of them is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

In particular, at step S62, the PDI-A query generator 131 of the client12 generates a user side PDI-A to questions defined in a PDI-Q receivedby the reception section 51 and applies the generated user side PDI-A toa predetermined conditional statement to generate a PDI-A query. Inparticular, for example, when a PDI-Q is received from a broadcastingstation, the PDI-A query generator 131 causes the display section notshown to display such screen images which correspond to the questiondefined in the PDI-Q as described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 8to 12. Then, the PDI-A query generator 131 causes the user or viewer ofthe client 12 to input or select answers to the questions and causes theuser to determine a combination or filtering condition of the answers togenerate a PDI-A query representative of the combination of the answers.In other words, the PDI-A query generator 131 interacts with the user togenerate a PDI-A query representative of the combination of answers tothe questions defined by the PDI-Q.

Then at step S64, the content filter 54 carries out matching of theprovider side PDI-A included in the content metadata from the server 11based on the PDI-A query stored in the PDI-A query storage section 132.

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 14 is transmitted as the provider side PDI-A from the server 11and a PDI-A query given below is generated and stored.

“//QBA[id=‘Common:111’ and a=‘false’] and //QSA[id=‘ProviderA:123’ anda=‘Baseball’]”

The PDI-A query given above indicates that the provider side PDI-Aevaluates whether “false” is selected as the answer to the question of“Common:111” and “Baseball” is selected as an answer to the question of“ProviderA:123.”

At this time, the content filter 54 evaluates the provider side PDI-Abased on the PDI-A query. Then, if the provider side PDI-A satisfies thePDI-A query, that is, is true, then the content filter 54 decides thatthe provider side PDI-A and the PDI-A query match with each other, butif the PDI-A query is not satisfied, that is, is false, then the contentfilter 54 decides that the provider side PDI-A and the PDI-A query donot match with each other. In this instance, in the provider side PDI-Aillustrated in FIG. 14, since “false” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “Common:111” and besides “Baseball” is selected as an answerto the question of “ProviderA:123,” it is decided that the provider sidePDI-A and the PDI-A query match with each other.

Since a more complicated filtering condition is represented by a PDI-Aquery set by the user side in this manner, it is possible to allow theuser side to acquire a content expected thereby with a higher degree ofcertainty.

Incidentally, although the present invention can be applied to abroadcasting system which broadcasts a digital television program, as anexample, the present invention can be applied to a broadcasting systemwhich broadcasts in accordance with the ATSC-M/H (Mobile/Handheld)method which is an expanded method of the ATSC (Advanced TelevisionStandard Committee) method to mobile communication.

Application Example to a Broadcasting System Which Broadcasts by theATSC-M/H Method

FIG. 20 shows an example of a configuration of a broadcasting systemwhich broadcasts digital television programs of the ATSC method and theATSC-M/H method in related arts.

The broadcasting system of FIG. 20 corresponds to the server 11 of thebroadcasting system 10 of FIG. 1 and includes an ATSC Legacy System 151,an ATSC M/H System 152, an M/H Framing 153 and an RF/Transmission System154.

The ATSC Legacy System 151 signals a broadcasting stream in the form ofan MPEG2-TS (Moving Picture Experts Group 2 Transport Stream) inaccordance with the ATSC method in related arts. The ATSC M/H System 152signals a broadcasting stream of IP packets in accordance with theATSC-M/H method. Control Data 152 a of the ATSC M/H System 152 iscontrol information regarding a broadcasting stream (A/V (Audio/Video)content) to be signaled from the ATSC M/H System 152.

Broadcasting streams described above are multiplexed by the M/H Framing153 and transmitted as a carrier by the RF/Transmission System 154. Itis to be noted that description of details of functions of the blocksmentioned is omitted herein because they are described in the ATSCstandards.

FIG. 21 illustrates a protocol stack of a signal of a broadcasting wavetransmitted in accordance with the ATSC-M/H method.

Although detailed description is omitted, one of the highest hierarchiesis “Service Guide” and prescribes metadata of a content to be providedin accordance with the ATSC-M/H method. The Control Data 152 aillustrated in FIG. 20 is transmitted as content metadata (hereinafterreferred to merely as Service Guide) prescribed by “Service Guide.” Inparticular, in the broadcasting system of FIG. 20, a PDI-A, that is, aprovider side PDI-A, a PDI-A query or a PDI-Q transmitted from theserver 11 to the client 12 in the broadcasting system 10 describedhereinabove is placed in and transmitted together with the ServiceGuide.

It is to be noted that a lower hierarchy “FLUTE” adjacent to the“Service Guide” and a lower hierarchy “ALC” adjacent to the “FLUTE” arehierarchies for transferring the Service Guide packetized in accordancewith the UDP/IP (User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol).

As specifications of the Service Guide, a data configuration illustratedin FIG. 22 is prescribed by the OMA (Open Mobile Alliance). It is to benoted that description of details of the configuration of the ServiceGuide illustrated in FIG. 22 is omitted herein because it is prescribedin “‘Service Guide for Mobile Broadcast Services,’ Open Mobile Alliance,OMA-TSBCAST_ServiceGuide-V1_(—)0, Candidate Version 1.0.”

The PDI-A, that is, the provider side PDI-A, or the PDI-A query, isplaced into at least one of a “Service” fragment, a “Schedule” fragmentand a “Content” fragment among components of the Service Guideillustrated in FIG. 22.

The “Service” fragment is metadata including control informationregarding the substance of a channel service, and FIG. 23 illustratesdetails of a configuration of the “Service” fragment. A PDI-A or a PDI-Aquery is placed into a “PrivateExt” element prescribed on the loweststage of the “Service” fragment illustrated in FIG. 23 by newly adding a“PDI-A” element to the “PrivateExt” element. More particularly, forexample, the “PDI-A” element is represented by a character string as<xs:element name=“PDI-A” type=“xs:string”xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLschema”/> in accordance with the XMLschema and is then encoded.

The “Schedule” fragment is metadata including control informationregarding a distribution schedule of a content, that is, a digitaltelevision program, and FIG. 24 illustrates details of a configurationof the “Schedule” fragment. A PDI-A or a PDI-A query is placed into a“PrivateExt” element prescribed on the lowest stage of the “Schedule”fragment illustrated in FIG. 24 by newly adding a “PDI-A” element to the“PrivateExt” element. More particularly, for example, the “PDI-A”element is represented by a character string as <xs:element name=“PDI-A”type=“xs:string” xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLschema”/> inaccordance with the XML schema and is then encoded.

The “Content” fragment is metadata including control informationregarding the substance of a content, that is, a digital televisionprogram, and FIG. 25 illustrates details of a configuration of the“Content” fragment. A PDI-A or a PDI-A query is placed into a“PrivateExt” element prescribed on the lowest stage of the “Content”fragment illustrated in FIG. 25 by newly adding a “PDI-A” element to the“PrivateExt” element. More particularly, for example, the “PDI-A”element is represented by a character string as <xs:element name=“PDI-A”type=“xs:string” xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLschema”/> inaccordance with the XML schema and is then encoded.

Meanwhile, the PDI-Q is placed into “Interactivity Data” from among thecomponents of the Service Guide illustrated in FIG. 22.

The “Interactivity Data” fragment is metadata regarding an applicationregarding a channel service or a content, that is, a digital televisionprogram, and FIG. 26 illustrates details of a configuration of the“Interactivity Data” fragment. A PDI-Q is placed into a “PrivateExt”element prescribed on the lowest stage of the “Interactivity Data”fragment illustrated in FIG. 26 by newly adding a “PDI-Q” element to the“PrivateExt” element. More particularly, the “PDI-Q” element isrepresented by a character string as <xs:element name=“PDI-Q”type=“xs:string” xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLschema”/> inaccordance with the XML schema and is then encoded.

While the foregoing description relates to an example wherein thepresent invention is applied to a broadcasting system which broadcastsin accordance with the ATSC-M/H method, the present invention can beapplied also to a broadcasting system which carries out NRT (Non-RealTime) broadcasting in accordance with the ATSC system in related arts.Since the NRT broadcasting does not assume viewing of a content on thereal time basis, there is no necessity to reproduce a content insynchronism with the broadcasting time of the content broadcast as datain the form of a broadcasting signal.

Application Example to a Broadcasting System which Carries Out NRTBroadcasting

FIG. 27 illustrates a protocol stack of a signal of a broadcasting wavetransmitted by NRT broadcasting.

Although detailed description is omitted, the lowermost layer is“Physical Layer” and corresponds to a frequency band of a broadcastingwave. An upper layer adjacent to the “Physical Layer” is “MPEG2-TS” andcorresponds to a broadcasting stream broadcast as a broadcasting wave.

“ATSC-PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol)” and “MPEG2-PSI(Program Specific Information)” are illustrated as higher layersadjacent to “MPEG2-TS.” “ATSC-PSIP” is a layer having TVCT, and“MPEG2-PSI” is a layer having PAT (Program Association Table) and PMT(Program Map Table).

Meanwhile, “DSM-CC (Digital Storage Media Command and Control)Addressable Section” is indicated as an upper layer adjacent to“MPEG2-TS.” “DSM-CC Addressable Section” is used as an adaptation layerfor transferring an IP packet on MPEG2-TS of a broadcasting stream.

FIG. 28 illustrates a data structure of TVCT, PAT, PMT and DSM-CCAddressable Section. In TVCT, control information regarding abroadcasting stream to be broadcast by MPEG2-TS is described, and anMPEG2-TS by which DSM-CC Addressable Section for transferring an IPpacket stream (UDP/IP Packet) is specified based on TVCT.

Referring back to FIG. 27, “IP” is indicated as an upper layer adjacentto “DSM-CC Addressable Section,” and “UDP” is indicated as a furtherhigher layer adjacent to “IP.”

“Service Signaling Channel” and “FLUTE/ALC (File Delivery overUnidirectional Transport/Asynchronous Layered Coding Protocol)” areindicated as higher layers adjacent to “UDP.” “Service SignalingChannel” is a layer having SMT (Service Map Table) and NRT-IT (NRTInformation Table). “FLUTE Session” is indicated as a higher layeradjacent to “FLUTE/ALC.” “FLUTE Session” is a layer having FLUTE-FDT(File Delivery Table) and A/V File.

FIG. 29 illustrates a data structure of SMT, NRT-IT and FLUTE FDT. SMTdescribes metadata regarding a channel, and NRT-IT described metadataregarding a content. SMT and NRT-IT are transferred by “ServiceSignaling Channel” described hereinabove. FLUTE FDT describesinformation for identifying A/V files. It is to be noted that an A/Vfile is transferred by “FLUTE/ALC.”

Here, in a broadcasting system which carries out NRT broadcasting, aPDI-A, that is, a provider side PDI-A, a PDI-A query or a PDI-Q to betransmitted from the server 11 to the client 12 in the broadcastingsystem 10 described hereinabove is placed into and transmitted togetherwith SMT or NRT-IT.

In particular, in the case where filtering of a content to bedistributed is carried out in a unit of a channel or broadcastingstation, “PDI descriptor” into which the PDI-A, PDI-A query or PDI-Q isto be placed is prescribed newly in the descriptor loop (“Service #1” inFIG. 29) of the service level of SMT.

On the other hand, in the case where filtering of a content to bedistributed is carried out in a unit of a content, “PDI descriptor” intowhich the PDI-A, PDI-A query or PDI-Q is to be placed is prescribednewly in the descriptor loop (“Content #1” in FIG. 29) of the servicelevel of NRT-IT.

FIG. 30 illustrates an example of the syntax of “PDI descriptor.” InFIG. 30, each of descriptors to be described is defined together with abit number (No. of Bits) and a format (Format).

According to the syntax illustrated in FIG. 30, a PDI-A, a PDI-A queryor a PDI-Q is described in a descriptor of variable bits, that is, in“PDI_Q or PDI_A or PDI_A_Query.”

It is to be noted that the syntax of “PDI descriptor” is not limited tothe example illustrated in FIG. 30.

In this manner, the present invention can be applied also to abroadcasting system which carries out NRT broadcasting.

It is to be noted that naturally the present invention may be appliedalso to a broadcasting system which broadcasts in accordance with theATSC-M/H method described hereinabove and a broadcasting system whichcarries out NRT broadcasting in accordance with a method other than anexisting broadcasting system.

Incidentally, in the broadcasting system 10 described above, the client12 interacts with a user through screen image display corresponding toquestions defined in a PDI-Q from the server 11 to generate user sidePDI-A. If questions set or generated on the provider side have simplesubstance, then the client 12 can interact with the user through thescreen image display described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 8 to12. However, a question set by the provider side has the substance whichrequires high interactivity such as, for example, the substance whichinvolves complicated conditional branching by selection of the user,there is the possibility that sufficient interaction with the user maynot be carried out with such screen image display as describedhereinabove with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12. In such a case, since aPDI-A which reflects the liking of the user with a high degree ofaccuracy cannot be generated, an accurate filtering condition cannot beobtained. As a result, a content which satisfies needs in this instancecannot be acquired.

Therefore, in the following, embodiments regarding a broadcasting systemwhich can sufficiently carry out interaction with a user even if aquestion set by the provider side has the substance which requires ahigh degree of interactivity are described.

2. Second Embodiment Example of the Functional Configuration of theServer

First, an example of a functional configuration of the server 11 in thebroadcasting system 10 which executes a script to carry out aninteraction with a user is described with reference to FIG. 31.

The server 11 of FIG. 31 includes a transmission section 42, a metadatadistributor 44, a content accumulation section 45, a content distributor46, a PDI-S generator 311 and a PDI-S execution section 312.

It is to be noted that, in the server 11 of FIG. 31, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 11of FIG. 3 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the server 11 of FIG. 31 is different from the server 11of FIG. 3 in that it includes the PDI-S generator 311 and the PDI-Sexecution section 312 in place of the PDI-Q generator 41 and the PDI-Agenerator 43.

The PDI-S generator 311 generates a PDI-S (Preference Demographic andInterest-Script) which is a script for obtaining a user side PDI-Arepresentative of answers of a user or viewer of the client 12 toquestions regarding the liking of the user. Then, the PDI-S generator311 transmits the generated PDI-S to the client 12 through thetransmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-S to the PDI-S executionsection 312. The PDI-S includes a Web browser, other applications and soforth.

The PDI-S execution section 312 executes the PDI-S from the PDI-Sgenerator 311 to generate a provider side PDI-A representative of ananswer set by the provider side to the questions regarding the liking ofthe user of the client 12, and supplies the generated provider sidePDI-A to the metadata distributor 44.

Example of the Functional Configuration of the Client

Now, an example of a functional configuration of the client 12 in thebroadcasting system 10 wherein a script is executed to carry out aninteraction with the user is described with reference to FIG. 32.

The client 12 of FIG. 32 includes a reception section 51, a PDI-Astorage section 53, a content filter 54, a content reproduction section55, a content accumulation section 56, a PDI-S execution section 321 anda log information storage section 322.

It is to be noted that, in the client 12 of FIG. 32, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the client 12of FIG. 4 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the client 12 of FIG. 32 is different from the client 12of FIG. 4 in that the PDI-S execution section 321 is provided in placeof the PDI-A generator 52 and the log information storage section 322 isprovided newly.

The PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S transmitted from theserver 11 to generate a user side PDI-A representative of answers of theuser to questions regarding the liking of the user of the client 12, andsupplies the generated user side PDI-A to the PDI-A storage section 53.The PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S based on loginformation hereinafter described as occasion demands.

The log information storage section 322 has stored therein loginformation representative of a behavior log of the user who owns theclient 12. The log information stored in the log information storagesection 322 is read out to the PDI-S execution section 321 as occasiondemands.

Example of the Content Transmission and Reception Processes

Content transmission and reception processes of the broadcasting system10 configured from the server 11 of FIG. 31 and the client 12 of FIG. 32are described below with reference to a flow chart of FIG. 33.

It is to be noted that processes at steps S114 to S116 and S123 to S126of the flow chart of FIG. 33 are basically similar to the processes atsteps S14 to S16 and S23 to S26 of the flow chart of FIG. 5,respectively, and therefore, overlapping description of them is omittedherein to avoid redundancy.

In particular, if, on the provider side such as a broadcasting company,for example, a sponsor of a content to be broadcast or distributed orthe broadcasting company itself issues a request for distribution of acontent to viewers having a particular liking or attribute, then thePDI-S generator 311 generates a PDI-S at step S111. In particular, thePDI-S generator 311 generates, in response to an operation of staff onthe provider side, a PDI-S to the user of the client 12 for obtaining auser side PDI-A representative of answers of the user to the questionsregarding what liking or attribute the user has.

Another Example of the Syntax of the XML Schema

Here, another example of the syntax of the XML schema for configuring aPDI-S and a PDI-A in the present embodiment is described with referenceto FIG. 34.

It is to be noted that the first to 44th rows of the syntax illustratedin FIG. 34 are same as the first to 44th rows of the syntax illustratedin FIG. 6, and therefore, overlapping description of them is omittedherein to avoid redundancy.

The 45th to 50th rows represent a declaration of elements of a questiondefined by the name of “QAA” from among the questions declared in thefifth to ninth rows, that is, by a question whose type is“AnyAnswerType.” The id element indicated in the 47th row represents anID for identifying the item of the question, and the format thereof isdefined by a format “providerName:[category:]question-ID” similar tothat of the provider unique filtering parameter.

In particular, a question defined by the name of “QAA,” that is, aquestion whose type is “AnyAnswerType,” and an answer to the question,are classified into the provider unique filtering parameter. It is to benoted that, since the question defined by the name of “QAA” does notlimit the type of the answer, the question, that is, the q element, isnot defined in the 45th to 50th rows.

Further, the answer to the question defined by the name of “QAA,” thatis, the a element, can have a format whose substance can be grasped onlyby the provider who sets the question as hereinafter described andtherefore is hereinafter referred to as provider unique filteringparameter of the provider hiding format.

Referring back to the flow chart of FIG. 33, at step S112, the PDI-Sgenerator 311 of the server 11 transmits the generated PDI-S to theclient 12 through the transmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-S tothe PDI-S execution section 312.

At step S121, the reception section 51 of the client 12 receives thePDI-S transmitted from the server 11 and supplies the received PDI-S tothe PDI-S execution section 321.

It is to be noted that the PDI-S may be received by the client 12, forexample, every time it is broadcast or transmitted after a predeterminedinterval of time from a broadcasting station as the provider in whichthe server 11 is installed. Or, the PDI-S may be received by the client12 when the client 12 adjusts the channel to the broadcasting station inwhich the server 11 is installed.

At step S122, the PDI-S execution section 321 of the client 12 carriesout a PDI-S execution process to generate a user side PDI-A.

Example of the PDI-S Execution Process

Here, details of the PDI-S execution process by the PDI-S executionsection 321 are described with reference to FIG. 35. After the PDI-Sexecution process is started, the PDI-S execution section 321 causes thedisplay section not shown to display a screen image corresponding to aquestion defined in the PDI-S. Then, the PDI-S execution section 321causes the user to select whether a user side PDI-A representative of ananswer to the question is to be automatically generated or to begenerated in response to an input of the user or viewer of the client12.

At step S131, the PDI-S execution section 321 decides whether or not theautomatic generation of a user side PDI-A is selected. If it is decidedat step S131 that the automatic generation of a user side PDI-A isselected on the screen image displayed on the display section not shown,then the processing advances to step S132.

At step S132, the PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S to readout log information from the log information storage section 322 andgenerates a user side PDI-A based on the log information. In particular,the PDI-S execution section 321 analyzes the liking of the user from thebehavior log of the user represented by the log information read outfrom the log information storage section 322 and generates a user sidePDI-A representative of an answer to the question defined by the PDI-Sbased on a result of the analysis of the liking.

Further, the PDI-S execution section 321 analyses the liking of the userfrom the behavior log of the user represented by the log informationstored in an external database on a network and received through thereception section 51. Then, the PDI-S execution section 321 generates auser side PDI-A representative of answers to the questions defined bythe PDI-S based on a result of the analysis of the liking.

In this manner, the PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S tointeract with the user to generate a PDI-A representative of answerswhich reflect the liking of the user with a high degree of accuracy tothe question defined by the PDI-S.

On the other hand, if it is decided at step S131 that automaticgeneration of a PDI-A is not selected on the screen image displayed onthe display section not shown, then the processing advances to stepS133.

At step S133, the PDI-S execution section 321 generates a user sidePDI-A in response to an input of the user on the screen image displayedon the display section not shown. In particular, the PDI-S executionsection 321 allows the user or viewer of the client 12 to input orselect answers to the questions defined in the PDI-S, which is displayedon the display section not shown, to generate a user side PDI-Arepresentative of the answer.

Example of Screen Image Display in an Interaction with the User by thePDI-S

Here, an example of screen image display in an interaction with a userby the PDI-S is described with reference to FIGS. 36 to 39. It is to benoted here that it is assumed that the client 12 receives a PDI-S whichdefines a question same as the question defined by the PDI-Q describedhereinabove with reference to FIG. 7, and screen images corresponding tothe question group defined by the received PDI-S are successivelydisplayed on the display section not shown of the client 12.

FIG. 36 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” in FIG. 7. In FIG. 36, a log referencebutton 341 on which “Reference the recent viewing log and, if you wantto automatically generate an answer to the query below: In which of thefollowing sports are you most interested? (Multiple selection allowed),click this button. If you want to specify the answer by yourself, chooseone to three answers below:” is displayed and selection buttons 342-1 to342-4 for allowing the user to select the choices “Baseball,”“Basketball,” “Soccer” and “Hockey” as candidates for the answer to thequestion are displayed.

If the log reference button 341 is depressed by the user on the screenimage shown in FIG. 36, then the PDI-S execution section 321 reads outlog information representative of the viewing log of televisionprograms, for example, for a month in the past from the log informationstorage section 322 to analyze the liking of the user. Then, the PDI-Sexecution section 321 selects one of the candidates for the answer tothe question of “ProviderA:123” which has the highest relationship to aresult of the analysis of the liking and generates a user side PDT-Arepresentative of the answer.

FIG. 37 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” in FIG. 7. In FIG. 37, a log referencebutton 351 on which the message including the question indicated in the20th row in FIG. 7, that is, the message “Reference the recent behaviorlog and, if you want to automatically generate an answer to the querybelow: Do you enjoy camping and outdoor recreation? (Only oneselection). If you want to specify the answer by yourself, choose oneanswer below:” is displayed and selection buttons 352-1 to 352-3 forallowing the user to select the choices “Never,” “Occasionally,” and“Frequently” as candidates for the answer to the question are displayed.

If the log reference button 351 is depressed by the user on the screenimage shown in FIG. 37, then the PDI-S execution section 321 reads outlog information representative of records of going out for a month inthe past such as, for example, a timetable from the log informationstorage section 322 to analyze the liking of the user. Then, the PDI-Sexecution section 321 selects one of the candidates for the answer tothe question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123” which has the highestrelationship to a result of the analysis of the liking and generates auser side PDI-A representative of the answer.

FIG. 38 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to thequestion of “ProviderA:321” in FIG. 7. In FIG. 38, a log referencebutton 361 on which the message including the question indicated in the27th row in FIG. 7, that is, the message “Reference the recent productsearch log and, if you want to automatically generate an answer to thequery below: Who's products are you most interested in recently?” isdisplayed and an answer inputting section region 362 for allowing theuser to input a character string as the answer to the question isdisplayed.

If the log reference button 361 is depressed by the user on the screenimage shown in FIG. 38, then the PDI-S execution section 321 reads outlog information representative of commodities searched, for example, fora month in the past from a database of a company which manages ashopping site on the Internet to analyze the liking of the user. Then,the PDI-S execution section 321 generates a user side PDI-Arepresentative of the answer to the question of “ProviderA:321” based ona result of the analysis.

FIG. 39 shows an example of screen image display corresponding to aquestion of “ProviderA:Special:999” which is not included in thequestion defined in the PDI-Q described hereinabove with reference toFIG. 7. It is assumed that the question of “ProviderA:Special:999” is aquestion whose type is “AnyAnswerType” described hereinabove. In FIG.39, a log reference button 371 on which a message including the questionprovided by the PDI-S, that is, the message “Reference a recent dialoglog and, if you want to automatically generate an answer to the query:“What subject are you most interested in recently? If there is no needfor automatic generation of answers, click the Cancel button below.” isdisplayed and a cancel button 372 for canceling the answer to thequestion is displayed.

If the log reference button 371 is depressed by the user on the screenimage shown in FIG. 39, then the PDI-S execution section 321 reads outlog information representative of dialogs or sentences communicated, forexample, for one week in the past from a database of a company whichprovides a SNS (Special Network Service) on the Internet to analyze theliking of the user. Then, the PDI-S execution section 321 generates aPDI-A representative of the answer to the question of“ProviderA:Special:999” based on a result of the analysis.

It is to be noted that, while, in the examples of screen image displayshown in FIGS. 36 and 37, the answer of the user is selected from amongcandidates for the answer to the question defined in the PDI-S,candidates for the answer to the question may be analogized from thebehavior log of the user represented by the log information stored inthe log information storage section 322 or an external database suchthat the answer of the user is selected from among the analogizedcandidates for the answer.

FIG. 40 shows another example of screen image display corresponding tothe question of “ProviderA:123” in FIG. 7. In FIG. 40, a questionpresentation region 381 in which a message including the questionindicated in the 12th row in FIG. 7, that is, the message “The followingthree candidates are possible as a result of choosing by analogy ofvarious log information of yours as an answer to the query: In which ofthe following sports are you most interested? (Multiple selectionallowed). Choose one or more,” is displayed and selection buttons 382-1to 382-3 for allowing the user to select the choices “Basketball,”“Soccer” and “Hockey” as analogized candidates for the answer to thequestion are displayed.

In this instance, the PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S toread out log information of television programs, for example, for amonth in the past to analyze the liking of the user to analogizecandidates for the answer to the question of “ProviderA:123.” Then, thePDI-S execution section 321 causes corresponding selection buttons to bedisplayed like a screen image shown in FIG. 40. If one of the selectionbuttons is selected by the user, then the PDI-S execution section 321generates a user side PDI-A representative of the answer correspondingto the selected selection button.

The PDI-S execution section 321 executes the PDI-S to automaticallygenerate a user side PDI-A representative of the answer to the questiondefined by the PDI-S based on log information of the user or generate auser side PDI-A representative of an answer to the question inputted orselected by the user.

Example of the PDI-A

Here, an example of a PDI-A generated by the PDI-S execution section321, that is, a user side PDI-A, is described with reference to FIG. 41.It is to be noted that the PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 41 is generatedbased on log information of the user.

In particular, the second to seventh rows indicate an answer of the userautomatically generated to the question presented by the screen imagedisplay described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 36. Moreparticularly, <id>ProviderA:123</id> indicates an id element of thequestion presented by the screen image display of FIG. 36, and<a>Baseball</a> in the fourth row, <a>Soccer</a> in the fifth row and<a>Hockey</a> in the sixth row indicate answers selected based on thelog information of the user by the PDI-S execution section 321 as ananswer to the question.

The eighth to eleventh rows indicate an automatically generated answerof the user to the question present by the screen image displaydescribed hereinabove with reference to FIG. 37. More particularly,<id>ProviderA:ProgramX:123</id> in the ninth row indicates an id elementof the question presented by the screen image display of FIG. 37, and<a>Occasionally</a> in the tenth row indicates an answer selected basedon the log information of the user by the PDI-S execution section 321 asan answer to the question.

The 12th to 15th rows indicate an answer of the user automaticallygenerated to the question presented by the screen image displaydescribed hereinabove with reference to FIG. 38. In particular,<id>ProviderA:231</id> in the 13th row indicates an id element of thequestion presented by the screen image display of FIG. 38, and<a>Somy</a> in the 14th row indicates an answer generated based on thelog information of the user by the PDI-S execution section 321 as ananswer to the question.

The 16th to 19th rows indicate an answer of the user automaticallygenerated to the question presented by the screen image displaydescribed hereinabove with reference to FIG. 39. In particular,<id>ProviderA:Special:999</id> in the 17th row indicates an id elementof the question presented by the screen image display of FIG. 39, and<a>jlKK3Q==</a> in the 18th row indicates an answer generated based onthe log information of the user by the PDI-S execution section 321 as ananswer to the question.

Here, <a>jlKK3Q==</a> is a provider unique filtering parameter of aprovider hiding format whose substance can be grasped only by theprovider which sets the question and is in a state encoded by such amethod as, for example, Base64. In other words, the provider uniquefiltering parameter cannot be used as a filtering parameter by any otherprovider.

The PDI-S execution section 321 supplies the user side PDI-A generatedin this manner to the PDI-A storage section 53 so as to be stored. Theuser side PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53 is used to decidewhether or not a content distributed from the server 11 conforms to theliking of the user of the client 12 as hereinafter described.

It is to be noted that the user side PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storagesection 53 is updated when the PDI-S is executed in an execution perioddesignated in advance by the provider side by the PDI-S executionsection 321.

Referring back to the flow chart of FIG. 33, at step S113, the PDI-Sexecution section 312 of the server 11 generates a provider side PDI-Ato the questions defined by the PDI-S from the PDI-S generator 311 andsupplies the generated provider side PDI-A to the metadata distributor44. In particular, the PDI-S execution section 312 analyzes or executesin response to an operation by staff of the broadcasting station, thatis, of the provider side, and causes the display section not shown todisplay such screen images corresponding to the questions defined by thePDI-S as described hereinabove, for example, with reference to FIGS. 36to 39. Then, the PDI-S execution section 312 generates a provider sidePDI-A representative of the answers to the questions. At this time, thestaff of the broadcasting station would cause the PDI-S to be analyzedor executed to select answers corresponding to a content to bedistributed as answers to the questions defined by the PDI-S. Inparticular, the provider side PDI-A generated by the PDI-S executionsection 312 represents information, that is, answers, for allowing theuser or viewer of the client 12 to view a content to be distributedlater with the liking of the viewer taken into consideration by theprovider side.

Thereafter, in the server 11, a content corresponding to the generatedprovider side PDI-A is specified or referred to, and content metadataincluding the provider side PDI-A is generated as content metadata ofthe specified content. Then, the specified content is distributedtogether with the generated content metadata.

Also here, it is to be noted that the content may not be distributedtogether with the content metadata, but after the content metadataincluding the provider side PDI-A is transmitted to the client 12 inadvance, the content corresponding to the content metadata may bedistributed.

Meanwhile, in the client 12, the content and the content metadatadistributed from the server 11 are received, and matching between theuser side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A is carried out.

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 41 is generated and stored as the user side PDI-A and a PDI-Aillustrated in FIG. 42 is transmitted as the provider side PDI-A fromthe server 11 to the client 12.

The PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 42 has a basic configuration same as thatof the user side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 41, and overlapping detaileddescription thereof is omitted herein to avoid redundancy. However, thisprovider side PDI-A indicates that “Baseball” is set as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” and “Never” is set as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

At this time, the client 12 compares the user side PDI-A and theprovider side PDI-A with each other. Then, if answers to at least onequestion exhibit coincidence, then the client 12 decides that the userside PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A match with each other. However,if answers to any question do not indicate coincidence, then the client12 decides that the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A do notmatch with each other. In the case described above, since the answer to“ProviderA:123” in the user side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 41 and theanswer to the question of “providerA:123” in the provider side PDI-Aillustrated in FIG. 42 coincide with each other in that they include“Baseball,” the client 12 decides that the user side PDI-A and theprovider side PDI-A match with each other.

Now, it is assumed that a PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 43 is transmitted asthe provider side PDI-A from the server 11.

The provider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 43 indicates that“Basketball” is selected as an answer to the question of “ProviderA:123”and “Never” is selected as an answer to the question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

In this instance, since the answers to the questions in the user sidePDI-A illustrated in FIG. 41 and the answers to the questions in theprovider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 43 exhibit no coincidence, it isdecided that the user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A do notmatch with each other.

From a result of such a matching process as described above, it isdetermined whether or not the distributed content should be acquired.

According to the process described above, in the broadcasting system, onthe provider side, a PDI-S for obtaining a user side PDI-A to questionsregarding the liking of a user is generated by the server, and the PDI-Sis transmitted to the client terminal. Further, a provider side PDI-Arepresentative of an answer set by the provider side to the PDI-S isdistributed as content metadata of a corresponding content.Consequently, as content metadata, content metadata which satisfiesneeds at the time other than content metadata prescribed by astandardization organization can be applied to a content. On the otherhand, on the user side, the PDI-S from the server is executed by theclient terminal to generate a user side PDI-A, and matching between thegenerated user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A from the server iscarried out to determine whether or not the content distributed from theserver should be acquired. Consequently, the content can be filteredwith the content metadata which satisfies needs at the time other thancontent metadata prescribed by a standardization organization.Accordingly, a content which satisfies needs at the time can beacquired.

Further, on the client terminal, since interaction with the user can becarried out with the PDI-S, even if a question set by the provider sidehas the substance which requires a high interactivity, sufficientinteraction with the user can be carried out. Accordingly, since a userside PDI-A which reflects the liking of the user with a high degree ofaccuracy can be generated, an accurate filtering condition can beobtained, and consequently, a content which satisfies needs at the timecan be acquired with a higher degree of certainty.

It is to be noted that, also in a broadcasting system wherein a scriptis executed to carry out interaction with a user, one of a user sidePDI-A and a provider side PDI-A may be represented as a query forevaluating a PDI-A to compare the user side PDI-A and the provider sidePDI-A with each other to carry out matching.

In the following, a configuration wherein one of a user side PDI-A and aprovider side PDI-A is represented as a query to compare the user sidePDI-A and the provider side PDI-A with each other is described.

Example 3 of the Matching Process by a Query for Evaluating a PDI-A

First, a configuration which represents a provider side PDI-A as a queryto compare a user side PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A with each otheris described.

FIG. 44 shows an example of a functional configuration of the server 11which represents a provider side PDI-A as a query.

The server 11 of FIG. 44 includes a transmission section 42, a contentaccumulation section 45, a content distributor 46, a PDI-S generator311, a PDI-S execution section 391, and a metadata distributor 392.

It is to be noted that, in the server 11 of FIG. 44, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 11of FIG. 31 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

The server 11 of FIG. 44 is different from the server 11 of FIG. 31 inthat the PDI-S execution section 391 and the metadata distributor 392are provided in place of the PDI-S execution section 312 and themetadata distributor 44.

The PDI-S execution section 391 executes a PDI-S from the PDI-Sgenerator 311 to generate a provider side PDI-A representative of ananswer set by the provider to the questions regarding the liking of theuser of the client 12. Then, the PDI-S execution section 391 applies thegenerated provider side PDI-A to a predetermined conditional statementto generate a PDI-A query and supplies the generated PDI-A query to themetadata distributor 392.

The metadata distributor 392 specifies or refers to, based on the PDI-Aquery from the PDI-S execution section 391, a content corresponding tothe PDI-A query from among the contents accumulated in the contentaccumulation section 45. The metadata distributor 392 generates contentmetadata including the PDI-A query as content metadata of the specifiedcontent and transmits the generated content metadata to the client 12through the transmission section 42.

Further, the client 12 in the present example is same as the client 12described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 32 except that the contentfilter 54 shown in FIG. 32 reads out the user side PDI-A from the PDI-Astorage section 53 and a content is filtered based on the user sidePDI-A and the PDI-A query included in the content metadata transmittedfrom the server 11 to the client 12.

Now, content transmission and reception processes in the broadcastingsystem 10 including the server 11 of FIG. 44 are described withreference to a flow chart of FIG. 45.

It is to be noted that processes at steps S151, S152, S156, S161 toS163, S165 and S166 of the flow chart of FIG. 45 are basically similarto the processes at steps S111, S112, S116, S121 to S123, S125 and S126of the flow chart of FIG. 33, respectively. Therefore, overlappingdescription of the processes is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

In particular, at step S153, the PDI-S execution section 391 of theserver 11 generates a provider side PDI-A to the questions defined inthe PDI-S from the PDI-S generator 311 and applies the generatedprovider side PDI-A to a predetermined conditional statement to generatea PDI-A query. Then, the PDI-S execution section 391 supplies thegenerated provider side PDI-A to the metadata distributor 392. Moreparticularly, for example, the PDI-S execution section 391 analyzes orexecutes the PDI-S in response to an operation of staff of abroadcasting station, that is, of the provider side so that such screenimages corresponding to the questions defined in the PDI-S as describedhereinabove, for example, with reference to FIGS. 36 to 39 are displayedon the display section not shown, thereby setting the answerscorresponding to the questions. Further, the PDI-S execution section 391causes the staff to determine a combination of the individual answers,that is, a filtering condition, to generate a PDI-A query representativeof the combination of the answers. At this time, the staff of thebroadcasting station would cause the PDI-S execution section 391 toanalyze or execute the PDI-S to select answers corresponding to thecontent to be distributed as answers to the questions defined in thePDI-S and determine a combination of the answers. In other words, thePDI-A query generated by the PDI-S execution section 391 representsinformation for allowing the user or viewer of the client 12 to view acontent to be distributed later, that is, the combination of answers,with the liking of the viewer taken into consideration by the providerside.

At step S154, the metadata distributor 392 specifies or refers to, basedon the PDI-A query from the PDI-S execution section 391, a contentcorresponding to the PDI-A query from among the contents accumulated inthe content accumulation section 45. The content specified here may be acontent having a similarity to content metadata applied in advance tothe accumulated content higher than a predetermined value or may be acontent selected in advance as a content to be viewed by the user by thestaff of the broadcasting station. It is to be noted that the contentspecified by the metadata distributor 392 is acquired from the contentaccumulation section 45 by the content distributor 46.

At step S155, the metadata distributor 392 newly generates, based on thecontent metadata applied in advance to the content specified at stepS154 and the PDI-A query from the PDI-S execution section 391, contentmetadata including the PDI-A query.

Then at step S164, the content filter 54 of the client 12 carries outmatching of the user side PDI-A stored in the PDI-A storage section 53based on the PDI-A query included in the content metadata from theserver 11.

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 41 is generated and stored as the user side PDI-A and a PDI-Agiven below has been transmitted from the server 11 to the client 12:

“//QSA[id=‘ProviderA:123’ and a=‘Baseball’]”

The PDI-A query indicates that the user PDI-A evaluates whether or not“Baseball” is selected as an answer to the question of “ProviderA:123.”

At this time, when the content filter 54 evaluates the user side PDI-Abased on the PDI-A query that the PDI-A query is satisfied, that is, thePDI-A query is true, it decides that the user side PDI-A and the PDI-Aquery match with each other. However, if the PDI-A query is notsatisfied or is false, then the content filter 54 decides that the userside PDI-A and the PDI-A query do not match with each other. In thepresent instance, since, in the user side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 41,“Baseball” is selected as the answer to the question of “ProviderA:123,”it is decided that the user side PDI-A and the PDI-A query match witheach other.

Since a condition of complicated filtering is represented by the PDI-Aquery set by the provider side can be represented in this manner, itbecomes possible to allow the user or viewer expected by the providerside to acquire a content with a higher degree of certainty.

Example 4 of the Matching Process by a Query for Evaluating a PDI-A

Now, a configuration which represents a user side PDI-A as a query tocompare the user side PDI-A and a provider side PDI-A is described.

FIG. 46 shows an example of a functional configuration of the client 12which represents a user side PDI-A as a query.

Referring to FIG. 46, the client 12 shown includes a reception section51, a content filter 54, a content reproduction section 55, a contentaccumulation section 56, a log information storage section 322, a PDI-Sexecution section 401 and a PDI-A query storage section 402.

It is to be noted that, in the client 12 of FIG. 46, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the client 12of FIG. 32 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the client 12 of FIG. 46 is different from the client 12of FIG. 32 in that it includes the PDI-S execution section 401 and thePDI-A query storage section 402 in place of the PDI-S execution section321 and the PDI-A storage section 53.

The PDI-S execution section 401 executes a PDI-S transmitted theretofrom the server 11 to generate a user side PDI-A representative ofanswers of the user of the client 12 to questions regarding the likingof the user. Then, the PDI-S execution section 401 applies the generateduser side PDI-A to a predetermined conditional statement to generate aPDI-A query and supplies the generated PDI-A query to the PDI-A querystorage section 402.

The PDI-A query storage section 402 stores the PDI-A query from thePDI-S execution section 401. The PDI-A query stored in the PDI-A querystorage section 402 is suitably read out into the content filter 54.

It is to be noted that the content filter 54 reads out the PDI-A queryfrom the PDI-A query storage section 402 and filters a content based onthe read out PDI-A query and a provider side PDI-A included in contentmetadata transmitted to the client 12 from the server 11.

Further, the server 11 in the present example is same as the server 11of FIG. 31, and therefore, overlapping description thereof is omittedherein to avoid redundancy.

Now, content transmission and reception processes in the broadcastingsystem 10 which includes the client 12 of FIG. 46 are described withreference to a flow chart of FIG. 47.

It is to be noted that processes at steps S171 to S181, S183, S185 andS186 are basically similar to the processes at steps S111 to S121, S123,S125 and S126 of the flow chart of FIG. 33, respectively, and therefore,overlapping description of them is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

In particular, at step S182, the PDI-S execution section 401 of theclient 12 carries out a PDI-S execution process to generate a PDI-Aquery.

Example of the PDI-S Execution Process

Here, details of the PDI-S execution process by the PDI-S executionsection 401 are described with reference to FIG. 48. After the PDI-Sexecution process is started, the PDI-S execution section 401 causes thedisplay section not shown to display a screen image corresponding to thequestions defined by the PDI-S. Then, the PDI-S execution section 401causes the user to select whether the user side PDI-A representative ofthe answers to the questions should be applied to a predeterminedconditional statement to automatically generate a PDI-A query or a PDI-Aquery should be generated in response to an input of the user or viewerof the client 12.

At step S191, the PDI-S execution section 401 decides whether or notautomatic generation of a PDI-A query is selected. If it is decided atstep S191 that automatic generation of a PDI-A is selected on the screenimage displayed on the display section not shown, then the processingadvances to step S192.

At step S192, the PDI-S execution section 401 executes the PDI-S to readout log information from the log information storage section 322 andgenerates a PDI-A query based on the read out log information. Moreparticularly, the PDI-S execution section 401 analyzes the liking of theuser from the behavior log of the user represented by the loginformation read out from the log information storage section 322 andgenerates answers to the questions defined by the PDI-S based on aresult of the analysis of the liking. Further, the PDI-S executionsection 401 decides a combination of the questions, that is, a filteringcondition, based on the log information to generate a PDI-A queryrepresentative of the combination of the answers.

Further, the PDI-S execution section 401 analyzes the liking of the userfrom the behavior log of the user presented by log information stored ina database on an external network and received through the receptionsection 51. Then, the PDI-S execution section 401 generates answers tothe questions defined by the PDI-S based on a result of the analysis ofthe liking. Further, the PDI-S execution section 401 determines acombination of the answers, that is, a filtering condition, based on thelog information to generate a PDI-A query representative of thecombination of the answers.

In this manner, the PDI-S execution section 401 executes the PDI-S andinteracts with the user to generate a PDI-A query representative ofanswers which reflect the liking of the user with a high degree ofaccuracy to the questions defined in the PDI-S.

On the other hand, if it is decided at step S191 that automaticgeneration of a PDI-A query is not selected on the screen imagedisplayed on the display section not shown, then the processing advancesto step S193.

At step S193, the PDI-S execution section 401 generates a PDI-A query inresponse to an input of the user on the screen image displayed on thedisplay section not shown. More particularly, the PDI-S executionsection 401 causes the user or viewer of the client 12 to input orselect answers to the questions defined in the PDI-S and displayed onthe display section not shown and causes the user to determine acombination of the answers, that is, a filtering condition, to generatea PDI-A query representative of the combination of answers.

The PDI-S execution section 401 supplies the PDI-A query generated inthis manner to the PDI-A query storage section 402 so as to be stored.

Referring back to the flow chart of FIG. 47, at step S184, the contentfilter 54 carries out matching of the provider side PDI-A included inthe content metadata from the server 11 based on the PDI-A query storedin the PDI-A query storage section 402.

Here, it is assumed that the PDI-A described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 42 is transmitted as the provider side PDI-A from the server 11and a PDI-A query given below is generated and stored:

“//QSA[id=‘ProviderA:123’ and a=‘Baseball’]” and//QSA[id=‘ProviderA:ProgramX:123’ and a=‘Never’]

The PDI-A query given above represents that the provider side PDI-Aevaluates whether or not “Baseball” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123” and besides “Never” is selected as an answerto the question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

At this time, the content filter 54 evaluates the provider side PDI-Abased on the PDI-A query and, if the PDI-A query is satisfied or true,then the content filter 54 decides that the provider side PDI-A and thePDI-A query match with each other. However, if the PDI-A query is notsatisfied or is false, then the content filter 54 decides that theprovider side PDI-A and the PDI-A query do not match with each other. Inthe present instance, in the provider side PDI-A illustrated in FIG. 42,“Baseball” is selected as an answer to the question of “ProviderA: 123”and besides “Never” is selected as an answer to the question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123.” Therefore, the content filter 54 decides thatthe provider side PDI-A and the PDI-A query match with each other.

Since a more detailed filtering condition can be represented by thePDI-A query set by the user side in this manner, a content expected bythe user side can be acquired with a higher degree of certainty.

Application Example to a Broadcasting System which Broadcasts by theATSC-M/H System

Incidentally, also the broadcasting system of the present embodimentdescribed above can be applied to a broadcasting system which broadcastsby the ATSC-M/H method.

In such an instance, a PDI-A, that is, a provider side PDI-A, or a PDI-Aquery is placed into at least one of the “Service” fragment (FIG. 23),the “Schedule” fragment (FIG. 24) and the “Content” fragment (FIG. 25)from among the components of the Service Guide illustrated in FIG. 22 asdescribed hereinabove.

Meanwhile, a PDI-S is placed into the “Interactivity Data” fragment fromamong the components of the Service Guide illustrated in FIG. 22.

FIG. 49 illustrates details of a configuration of the “InteractivityData” fragment. The PDI-S is placed into a “PDI-S” element newly addedto the “PrivateExt” element set at the lowermost stage in theInteractivity Data” fragment illustrated in FIG. 49. In particular, forexample, the “PDI-S” element is represented by a character string as<xs:element name=‘PDI-S’ type=‘xs:string’xmins:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/SML.Schema’/> by the XML schema and isencoded.

Application Example to a Broadcasting System which Carries Out NRTBroadcasting

The broadcasting system of the present embodiment can be applied also toa broadcasting system which carries out NRT broadcasting.

In such an instance, a PDI-A, that is, a provider side PDI-A, a PDI-Aquery or a PDI-S to be transmitted from the server 11 to the client 12in the broadcasting system 10 described hereinabove is placed into andtransmitted together with the “PDI descriptor” newly prescribed in SMTor NRT-IT (FIG. 29).

FIG. 50 illustrates an example of the syntax of “PDI Descriptor.” InFIG. 50, each of the descriptors described is defined together with thebit number (No. of Bits) and the format (Format).

According to the syntax illustrated in FIG. 50, a PDI-A, a PDI-A queryor a PDI-S is described in the descriptor “PDI_S or PDI_A orPDI_A_Query” of variable bits.

It is to be noted that the broadcasting system of the present embodimentcan naturally be applied to a broadcasting system which broadcasts bythe ATSC-M/H method described above and a broadcasting system whichcarries out NRT broadcasting by a method other than the existingbroadcasting system.

Incidentally, in the embodiment described above, PDI-As, that is, a userside PDI-A and a provider side PDI-A, are generated as metadata of atext representation of the XML or the like and is used for filtering,that is, for a matching process. In particular, in filtering, texts,that is, XML instances, are compared with each other to determinewhether or not they are same as each other.

However, since the process of comparing texts with each other requires ahigh cost in regard to the CPU load and the memory use amount, in thecase where the amount of a content or contents to be distributed at atime is great, there is the possibility that the process may disturbefficient filtering of the distributed content or contents.

Therefore, in the following description, an embodiment of the presentinvention regarding a broadcasting system wherein a distributed contentis filtered more efficiently is described.

3. Third Embodiment Example of a Functional Configuration of the Server

First, an example of a functional configuration of the server 11 in thebroadcasting system 10 wherein metadata is represented by a bitmap indexis described with reference to FIG. 51.

The server 11 of FIG. 51 includes a transmission section 42, a contentaccumulation section 45, a content distributor 46, a PDI-Q generator411, a PDI-BA generator 412, and a metadata distributor 413.

It is to be noted that, in the server 11 of FIG. 51, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 11of FIG. 3 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the server 11 of FIG. 51 is different from the server 11of FIG. 3 in that the PDI-Q generator 411, PDI-BA generator 412 andmetadata distributor 413 are provided in place of the PDI-Q generator41, PDI-A generator 43 and metadata distributor 44.

The PDI-Q generator 411 generates a PDI-Q representative of a questionabout the liking of the user or viewer of the client 12, and transmitsthe generated PDI-Q to the client 12 through the transmission section 42and supplies the PDI-Q to the PDI-BA generator 412. The id element ofeach question defined by the PDI-Q generated by the PDI-Q generator 411is represented by a bitmap index, that is, a bit string, as hereinafterdescribed.

The PDI-BA generator 412 generates, based on the PDI-Q from the PDI-Qgenerator 411, a PDI-BA (Preference Demographic and Interest-BitmapAnswer) (hereinafter referred to suitably as provider side PDI-BA) whichis information represented by a bitmap index, that is, a bit string,representing an answer set by the provider side to the questionsregarding the liking of the user of the client 12 described hereinabovecorresponding to the PDI-Q. Then, the PDI-BA generator 412 supplies thegenerated PDI-BA to the metadata distributor 413.

The metadata distributor 413 specifies or refers to, based on the PDI-BAfrom the PDI-BA generator 412, a content corresponding to the answer setby the provider side from among the contents accumulated in the contentaccumulation section 45. The metadata distributor 413 generates contentmetadata including the PDI-BA as content metadata of the specifiedcontent and transmits the generated content metadata to the client 12.

Example of the Functional Configuration of the Client

Now, an example of a functional configuration of the client 12 in thebroadcasting system 10 wherein metadata is represented by a bitmap indexis described with reference to FIG. 52.

The client 12 of FIG. 52 includes a reception section 51, a contentreproduction section 55, a content accumulation section 56, a PDI-BAgenerator 421, a PDI-BA storage section 422 and a content filter 423.

It is to be noted that, in the client 12 of FIG. 52, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the client 12of FIG. 4 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the client 12 of FIG. 52 is different from the client 12of FIG. 4 in that the PDI-BA generator 421, PDI-BA storage section 422and content filter 423 are provided in place of the PDI-A generator 52,PDI-A storage section 53 and content filter 54, respectively.

The PDI-BA generator 421 generates, based on the PDI-Q transmitted tothe client 12 from the server 11, a PDI-BA (hereinafter referred tosuitably as user side PDI-BA) which is information represented by abitmap index representing answers of the user to the questions regardingthe liking of the user of the client 12 corresponding to the PDI-Q.Then, the PDI-BA generator 421 supplies the generated PDI-BA to thePDI-BA storage section 422.

The PDI-BA storage section 422 stores the PDI-BA from the PDI-BAgenerator 421. The PDI-BA stored in the PDI-BA storage section 422 isread out suitably from the content filter 423.

The content filter 423 reads out the PDI-BA from the PDI-BA storagesection 422 and filters a content based on the read out PDI-BA, that is,based on the user side PDI-BA, and the PDI-BA included in the contentmetadata of the content transmitted from the server 11, that is, theprovider side PDI-BA. The content filter 423 supplies the filteredcontent to the content reproduction section 55 or the contentaccumulation section 56 in response to a result of the filtering.

Example of Content Transmission and Reception Processes

Now, content transmission and reception processes of the broadcastingsystem 10 configured from the server 11 of FIG. 51 and the client 12 ofFIG. 52 are described with reference to a flow chart of FIG. 53.

In particular, if, on the provider side such as a broadcasting company,for example, a sponsor of a content to be broadcast or distributed orthe broadcasting company itself issues a request for distribution of acontent to viewers having a particular liking or attribute, then thePDI-Q generator 411 of the server 11 generates a PDI-Q at step S211. Inparticular, the PDI-Q generator 411 generates, in response to anoperation of staff on the provider side, a PDI-Q to the user of theclient 12 for inquiring about what liking or attribute the user has.

Further Example of the Syntax of the XML Schema

Here, an example of the syntax of the XML schema for configuring a PDI-Qand a PDI-BA in the present embodiment is described with reference toFIGS. 54 and 55.

It is to be noted that the first to 50th rows of the syntax illustratedin FIG. 54 are basically similar to the first to 50th rows of the syntaxillustrated in FIG. 34, respectively, and therefore, overlappingdescription of them is omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

It is to be noted that, in FIG. 54, the type of id elements foridentification of the items of the questions defined by the names of“QIA,” “QBA,” “QSA,” “QTA” and “QAA” indicated in the 15th, 24th, 31st,40th and 47th rows is defined as “BitmapAnyURIType,” different from thatin FIG. 34.

Further, in FIG. 54, the type of answers, that is, of a elements, to thequestions defined by the names of “QBA,” “QSA” and “QAA” indicated inthe 26th, 33rd and 48th rows is defined as “BitmapBooleanURIType,”“BitmapStringURIType” and “BitmapBase64 BinaryURIType, respectively,different from those in FIG. 34.

The 51st to 57th rows in FIG. 55 indicate a declaration of the attributeof the id element of the type defined by “BitmapAnyURIType.”

The 58th to 64th rows indicate a declaration of the attribute of the aelements of the type defined by “BitmapBooleanURIType.”

Further, the 65th to 71st rows indicate a declaration of the attributeof the a elements of the type defined by “BitmapStringURIType,” and the72nd to 78th rows indicate a declaration of the attribute of the aelements of the type defined by “BitmapBase64 BinaryURIType.”

In particular, the 51st to 78th rows of FIG. 55 declare that the idelements of all of the questions defined by the PDI-Q and the answers,that is, the a elements, to the questions defined by the names of “QBA,”“QSA” and “QAA” are represented by a bitmap index.

It is to be noted that also the questions and the answers to thequestions declared in the syntaxes of FIGS. 54 and 55 are distinguishedinto provider common filtering parameters and provider unique filteringparameters.

Further, the answers, that is, the a elements, to the questions definedby the name of “QAA” are distinguished into provider unique filteringparameters of a format in which only the provider which sets thequestion can grasp the substance and of a provider unique format encodedby the Base64 system.

Example of the PDI-Q

Now, an example of a PDI-Q configured based on the indexes of FIGS. 54and 55 is described with reference to FIG. 56.

It is to be noted that the questions defined by the PDI-Q illustrated inFIG. 56 are basically same as those of the PDI-Q illustrated in FIG. 7,and therefore, overlapping description of them is omitted herein toavoid redundancy.

However, in FIG. 56, the id elements of the questions defined by thenames of “QBA” and “QSA” and the answers, that is, the a elements, tothe questions are represented by a bitmap index, different from those inFIG. 7.

In particular, the id element of the question of “Common:111” in thethird row is represented by a bitmap string of “00000000000101.” It isto be noted that <!-True=1, False=0- - > in the fourth row indicatesthat the answer to the question of “Common:111” which is a question forrequesting an answer of the logic value type is represented by one ofthe bits of “1” (True) and “0” (False).

The id element of the question of “ProviderA:123” in the 10th row isrepresented by a bit string of “00000100000111.” Further, “Baseball” inthe 13th row, “Basketball” in the 14th row, “Soccer” in the 15th row and“Hockey” in the 16th row which are choices as candidates for an answerto the question are represented by bit strings of “0001,” “0010,” “0100”and “1000,” respectively.

The id element of the question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123” in the 19throw is represented by a bit string of “00000100000101.” Meanwhile,“Never” in the 21st row, “Occasionally” in the 22nd row and “Frequently”in the 23rd row which are choices as candidates for an answer to thequestion are represented by bit strings of “001,” “010” and “100,”respectively.

In this manner, in the PDI-Q indicated in FIG. 56, the id elements ofthe questions which request answers of the logic value type and theanswer selection type and the answers to the questions, that is, the aelements, are represented by a bitmap index.

It is to be noted that the answers to the questions which requestanswers of the integer value type and the character string type are notselected from among choices as a plurality of, that is, two or more,candidates like answers to questions which request answers of the logicvalue type and the answer selection type, but are integer values orcharacter strings inputted arbitrarily by the user, and therefore arenot represented by a bitmap index. Further, although, according to thesyntaxes of FIGS. 54 and 55, id elements of questions which requestanswers of the integer value type and the character string type can berepresented by a bitmap index, it is assumed here that they are notrepresented by a bitmap index.

Here, the following description is given under the assumption that thequestions defined by a PDI-Q are those which request answers of thelogic value type and the answer selection type.

Referring back to the flow chart of FIG. 53, at step S212, the PDI-Qgenerator 411 of the server 11 transmits the generated PDI-Q to theclient 12 through the transmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-Q tothe PDI-BA generator 412.

At step S221, the reception section 51 of the client 12 receives thePDI-Q transmitted from the server 11 and supplies the received PDI-Q tothe PDI-BA generator 421.

It is to be noted that the PDI-Q may be received by the client 12, forexample, every time it is broadcast or transmitted after a predeterminedinterval of time from a broadcasting station as a provider in which theserver 11 is installed. Or, the PDI-Q may be received by the client 12when the client 12 adjusts the channel to the broadcasting station inwhich the server 11 is installed.

At step S222, the PDI-BA generator 421 of the client 12 generates a userside PDI-BA to the questions defined in the PDI-Q received by thereception section 51. In particular, when the PDI-Q is received from theserver 11, the PDI-BA generator 421 causes the display section not shownto display screen images corresponding to questions defined in the PDI-Qand causes the user or viewer of the client 12 to input or selectanswers to the questions to generate a user side PDI-BA representativeof the answers. In other words, the PDI-BA generator 421 interacts withthe user to generate a user side PDI-BA representative of answers to thequestions defined in the PDI-Q.

Here, it is assumed that the client 12 receives a PDI-Q in which onlyquestions which request answers of the logical value type and the answerselection type in FIG. 56 and, the screen images shown in FIGS. 8, 10and 11 are successively displayed as screen images corresponding to thequestion group defined in the received PDI-Q on the display section notshown of the client 12.

Further, it is assumed that, on the screen image corresponding to thequestion of “Common:111” described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 8,the selection button 62-1 is selected by the user as an answer to thequestion. Further, on the screen image corresponding to the question of“ProviderA:123” described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 10, theselection buttons 82-1, 82-2, 82-3 and 82-4 are selected as an answer tothe question by the user. Further, on the screen image corresponding tothe question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123” described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 11, the selection button 92-2 is selected as an answerto the question by the user.

At this time, the user side PDI-BA generated by the PDI-BA generator 421is such as given below:

{“00000000000101”:“1”

“00000100000111”:“1101”

“00000100000101”:“010”}

In the user side PDI-BA described above, the first row indicates an idelement of the question of “Common:111” and that “True” is selected asan answer to the question.

The second row indicates an id element of the question of “PoviderA:123”and that “Baseball,” “Soccer” and “Hockey” are selected as an answer tothe question. While the bitmap index notation of the answers is “0001,”“0100” and “1000,” since a plurality of answers, that is, one to threeanswers, are permitted by the question of “ProviderA:123,” “1101”obtained by OR coupling the bits of the answers is the bitmap indexnotation of the answer to the question of “ProviderA:123.”

The third row indicates an id element of the question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123” and that “Occasionally” is selected as ananswer to the question. Since the question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123”restricts the number of answers to one, a notation of OR coupling ofbits in the bitmap index notation of the candidates for an answer is notused, but “010” representative of “Occasionally” becomes a bitmap indexnotation of the answer to the question of the “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

It is to be noted that the values of the bits representative of theanswer in the user side PDI-BA are actually mapped on a binary field.

FIG. 57 illustrates an example of an answer in a user side PDI-BA mappedon a binary field.

At a right upper portion of FIG. 57, an id element of the question of“ProviderA:ProgramX:123” and an answer to the question in the user sidePDI-BA described hereinabove are indicated. As seen in FIG. 57, the sixhigh order bits of the id element of the question represented in thebitmap index notation are mapped to six low order bits of a bit stringB1 of one byte, and eight low order bits of the id element of thequestion are mapped to bits of a bit string B2 of one byte. Further, thethree bits of the answer to the question, that is, the a element, aremapped to three low order bits of a bit string B3 of one byte.

In this manner, an id element of one question in a user side PDI-BA andan answer to the question can be represented by three bytes at the most,and a question and an answer to the question can be specified only bythe three bytes.

The PDI-BA generator 421 supplies the user side PDI-BA generated in thismanner to the PDI-BA storage section 422 so as to be stored. The userside PDI-BA stored in the PDI-BA storage section 422 is used to decidewhether or not a content distributed from the server 11 conforms to theliking of the user of the client 12 as hereinafter described.

Referring back again to the flow chart of FIG. 53, at step S213, thePDI-BA generator 412 of the server 11 generates a provider side PDI-BAto the question defined in the PDI-Q from the PDI-Q generator 411 andsupplies the generated provider side PDI-BA to the metadata distributor413. In particular, when a PDI-Q is generated in response to anoperation of staff in the broadcasting station or provider side, thePDI-BA generator 412 causes the display section not shown to displaysuch screen images corresponding to the questions defined in the PDI-Qas described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 8, 10 and 11. Then, thePDI-BA generator 412 causes the staff of the broadcasting station toinput or select answers to the questions to generate a provider sidePDI-BA representative of the answers. At this time, the staff of thebroadcasting station would input or select answers corresponding to acontent to be distributed as answers to the questions defined in thePDI-Q. In other words, the provider side PDI-BA generated by the PDI-BAgenerator 412 represents information or answers for allowing the user orviewer of the client 12 to view a content to be distributed later withthe liking of the viewer taken into consideration.

At step S214, the metadata distributor 413 specifies or refers to, basedon the provider side PDI-BA from the PDI-BA generator 412, a contentcorresponding to the PDI-BA from among the contents accumulated in thecontent accumulation section 45. The content specified here may be acontent having a similarity between the answer represented by theprovider side PDI-BA from the PDI-BA generator 412 and content metadataapplied in advance to the accumulated content higher than apredetermined value or may be a content selected in advance as a contentto be viewed by the user by the staff of the broadcasting station. It isto be noted that the content specified by the metadata distributor 413is acquired from the content accumulation section 45 by the contentdistributor 46.

At step S215, the metadata distributor 413 newly generates, based on thecontent metadata applied in advance to the content specified at stepS215 and the provider side PDI-BA from the PDI-BA generator 412, contentmetadata including the provider side PDI-BA.

At step S216, the transmission section 42 distributes the contentacquired by the content distributor 46 together with the contentmetadata generated by the metadata distributor 413. At this time, as thecontent metadata, content metadata prescribed by a standardizationorganization may be transmitted in addition to the content metadatagenerated by the metadata distributor 44.

In this manner, a content whose content metadata includes a providerside PDI-BA representative of answers intended by the provider side, orin other words, a content which conforms to the liking of the user andwhose viewing is expected by the provider side is distributed as theanswers to the questions defined by the PDI-Q.

It is to be noted that the processes at steps S213 to S216 need not beexecuted immediately after the process at step S212 but may be executedbefore a PDI-BA is generated by and stored into the client 12 owned byeach user.

Further, while the content is distributed together with the contentmetadata at step S216, the content may not be distributed together withthe content metadata, but otherwise, after the content metadataincluding the PDI-BA is transmitted to the client 12 in advance, thecontent corresponding to the content metadata may be distributed.

After the content and the content metadata are distributed in thismanner, the reception section 51 of the client 12 receives the contentand the content metadata distributed from the server 11 and supplies thereceived content and content metadata to the content filter 423 at stepS223.

At step S224, the content filter 423 carries out matching between theuser side PDI-BA stored in the PDI-BA storage section 422 and theprovider side PDI-BA included in the content metadata from the server11.

Example of the Matching Process by the Content Filter

Here, it is assumed that the user side PDI-BA described hereinabove isgenerated and stored as the user side PDI-BA and a provider side PDI-BAgiven below is transmitted from the server 11 to the client 12.

{“00000100000111”:“0001”}

This provider side PDI-BA has a basically same configuration as the userside PDI-BA described hereinabove, and therefore, detailed descriptionthereof is omitted herein to avoid redundancy. However, this providerside PDI-BA indicates that “Baseball” is selected as an answer to thequestion of “ProviderA:123.”

At this time, the content filter 423 compares the user side PDI-BA andthe provider side PDI-BA with each other, and if they coincide with eachother between the answers thereof to at least one of the questions, thecontent filter 423 decides that the user side PDI-BA and the providerside PDI-BA match with each other. However, if the user side PDI-BA andthe provider side PDI-BA do not coincide with each other between theanswers to any question, then the content filter 423 decides that theydo not match with each other. In the present instance, since the answerto the question of “ProviderA:123” in the user side PDI-BA describedhereinabove and the answer to the question of “ProviderA:123” in theprovider side PDI-BA coincide with each other in that both of theminclude the bits representative of “Baseball,” it is decided that theuser side PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA match with each other.

It is assumed that a PDI-BA given below is transmitted as the providerside PDI-BA subsequently:

{“00000100000111”:“0010”

“00000100000101”:“001”}

This provider side PDI-BA indicates that “Baseball” is selected as ananswer to the question of “ProviderA:123” and “Never” is selected as ananswer to the question of “ProviderA:ProgramX:123.”

In this instance, since the answer to the question in the user sidePDI-BA described above and any answer to the questions in the providerside PDI-BA do not coincide with each other, it is decided that the userside PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA do not match with each other.

The content filter 423 carries out the matching process between the userside PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA in this manner.

At step S225, the content filter 423 decides whether or not the userside PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA match with each other. If it isdecided at step S225 that the user side PDI-BA and the provider sidePDI-BA match with each other, then the content filter 423 decides thatthe content distributed from the server 11 conforms to the liking of theuser or viewer of the client 12. Then, the content filter 423 suppliesthe content to the content reproduction section 55 or the contentaccumulation section 56, and then the processing advances to S226.

In the case where the content distributed from the server 11 is suppliedfrom the content filter 423 to the content reproduction section 55, thecontent reproduction section 55 reproduces the content at step S226. Onthe other hand, in the case where the content distributed from theserver 11 is supplied from the content filter 423 to the contentaccumulation section 56, the content accumulation section 56 accumulatesor records the content at step S226. The accumulated content is suppliedto and reproduced by the content reproduction section 55 suitably inresponse to an operation instruction of the user.

On the other hand, if it is decided at step S225 that the user sidePDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA do not match with each other, thenthe content filter 423 decides that the content distributed from theserver 11 does not conform to the liking of the user or viewer of theclient 12 and abandons or deletes the content. The, the processing isended.

According to the process described above, on the provider side, a PDI-Qrepresentative of questions regarding the liking of the user isgenerated by the server. Then, the PDI-Q is transmitted to the clientterminal, and the provider side PDI-BA representative of the answers setby the provider side to the PDI-Q is distributed as content metadata ofthe corresponding content. Consequently, content metadata whichsatisfies needs at the time other than content metadata prescribed by astandardization organization can be applied to a content. On the otherhand, on the user side, a user side PDI-BA representative of answers ofthe user to the PDI-Q from the server is generated, and matching betweenthe thus generated user side PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA fromthe server is carried out to determine whether or not the contentdistributed from the server should be acquired. Consequently, a contentcan be filtered with content metadata which satisfies needs at the timeother than content metadata prescribed by a standardizationorganization. Accordingly, a content which satisfies current needs canbe acquired.

Meanwhile, in the case where the questions defined in the PDI-Q requestanswers of the logical value type and the answer selection type, whenthe client terminal carries out filtering of a content, the user sidePDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA represented by bitmap indices arecompared with each other. Therefore, the cost in regard to the CPU loadand the memory use amount is lower than that in the case where the userside PDI-A and the provider side PDI-A of text representations arecompared with each other. Thus, even if a great amount of contents aredistributed at a time, the distributed contents can be filteredefficiently.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, thequestions defined by the PDI-Q are only questions which request answersof the logic value type and the answer selection type, naturally theymay otherwise include questions which request answers of the integervalue type or the character string type. In this instance, the PDI-BAs,that is, the user side PDI-BA and the provider side PDI-BA, includeanswers of the text representation as answers to the questions whichrequest answers of the integer value type and the character string type.In particular, to a question whose id element is represented in a bitmapindex representation, an answer of the bitmap index representation isgenerated, but to a question whose id element is not represented in abitmap index representation, an answer of a text representation such asan integral value or a character string is generated.

Further, the configuration described above wherein an id element of aquestion and an answer to the question are represented by a bitmap indexcan be applied also to the broadcasting system of the second embodimentdescribed hereinabove.

In the following, a configuration which uses a PDI-BA in thebroadcasting system according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention described hereinabove is described.

Example of a Different Functional Configuration of the Server

First, an example of a different functional configuration of the server11 in the broadcasting system 10 wherein metadata is represented by abitmap index is described with reference to FIG. 58.

The server 11 of FIG. 58 includes a transmission section 42, a contentaccumulation section 45, a content distributor 46, a metadatadistributor 413, a PDI-S generator 431 and a PDI-S execution section432.

It is to be noted that, in the server 11 of FIG. 58, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 11of FIG. 51 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the server 11 of FIG. 58 is different from the server 11of FIG. 51 in that it includes the PDI-S generator 431 and the PDI-Sexecution section 432 in place of the PDI-Q generator 411 and the PDI-BAgenerator 412.

The PDI-S generator 431 generates a PDI-S which is a script forobtaining a user side PDI-BA representative of answers of a user toquestions regarding the liking of the user or viewer of the client 12.The PDI-S generator 431 transmits the generated PDI-S to the client 12through the transmission section 42 and supplies the PDI-S to the PDI-Sexecution section 432.

The PDI-S execution section 432 executes the PDI-S from the PDI-Sgenerator 431 to generate a provider side PDI-BA representative ofanswers set by the provider side to the questions regarding the likingof the user of the client 12. Then, the PDI-S execution section 432supplies the generated provider side PDI-BA to the metadata distributor413.

Different Example of a Functional Configuration of the Client

Now, a different example of a functional configuration of the client 12in the broadcasting system 10 wherein metadata is represented by abitmap index is described with reference to FIG. 59.

The client 12 of FIG. 59 includes a reception section 51, a contentreproduction section 55, a content accumulation section 56, a PDI-BAstorage section 422, a content filter 423, a PDI-S execution section 441and a log information storage section 442.

It is to be noted that, in the client 12 of FIG. 59, like elementshaving like functions to those of the elements provided in the server 12of FIG. 52 are denoted by like terms and like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is suitably omitted herein to avoidredundancy.

In particular, the client 12 of FIG. 59 is different from the client 12of FIG. 52 in that it includes the PDI-S execution section 441 in placeof the PDI-BA generator 421 and additionally includes the loginformation storage section 442.

The PDI-S execution section 441 executes the PDI-S transmitted from theserver 11 to generate a user side PDI-BA representative of answers ofthe user to the questions regarding the liking of the user of the client12, and supplies the generated user side PDI-BA to the PDI-BA storagesection 422. The PDI-S execution section 441 executes the PDI-S based onlog information hereinafter described as occasion demands.

The log information storage section 442 stores log informationrepresentative of a behavior log of the user who owns the client 12. Thelog information stored in the log information storage section 442 isread out by the PDI-S execution section 441 as occasion demands.

Example of the Content Transmission and Reception Processes

Now, content transmission and reception processes and a PDI-S executionprocess in the broadcasting system 10 configured from the server 11 ofFIG. 58 and the client 12 of FIG. 59 are described with reference toflow charts of FIGS. 60 and 61.

It is to be noted that the content transmission and reception processesand the PDI-S execution process represented by the flow charts of FIGS.60 and 61 are basically similar to the content transmission andreception processes and the PDI-S execution process executed by thebroadcasting system 10 of the second embodiment described hereinaboveand represented by the flow charts of FIGS. 33 and 35 except that a userside PDI-BA and a provider side PDI-BA are generated in place of a userside PDI-A and a provider side PDI-A. Therefore, overlapping descriptionof the content transmission and reception processes and the PDI-Sexecution process is omitted herein to avoid redundancy. It is to benoted that generation of a user side PDI-BA and a provider side PDI-BAis carried out similarly to generation of a user side PDI-BA and aprovider side PDI-BA in the content transmission and reception processesdescribed hereinabove with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 53.

In short, according to the process described above, in the broadcastingsystem, on the provider side, the server generates a PDI-S for obtaininga user side PDI-BA to questions regarding the liking of the user, andthe generated PDI-S is transmitted to the client terminal. Further, aprovider side PDI-BA representative of an answer set by the providerside to the PDI-S is distributed as content metadata of a correspondingcontent. Consequently, content metadata which satisfies needs at thetime other than content metadata prescribed by a standardizationorganization can be applied to a content. On the other hand, on the userside, the client terminal executes the PDI-S from the server to generatea user side PDI-BA and carries out matching between the generated userside PDI-A and the provider side PDI-BA from the server to determinewhether or not the content distributed from the server should beacquired. Consequently, a content can be filtered with content metadatawhich satisfies needs at the time other than content metadata prescribedby a standardization organization. Accordingly, a content whichsatisfies current needs can be acquired.

Further, in the case where the questions defined by the PDI-S requestanswers of the logic values and the answer selection type, when acontent is filtered on the client terminal, the user side PDI-BA and theprovider side PDI-BA represented by bitmap indices are compared witheach other. Therefore, the cost in regard to the CPU load and the memoryuse amount is lower than that in the case where the user side PDI-BA andthe provider side PDI-BA of text representations are compared with eachother. Thus, even if a great amount of contents are distributed at atime, the distributed contents can be filtered efficiently.

Further, since the client terminal can interact with the user by thePDI-S, even if a question set by the provider side has the substancewhich requires high interactivity, the client terminal can interactsufficiently with the user. Accordingly, since a user side PDI-BA whichreflects the liking of the user with a high degree of accuracy can begenerated, an accurate filtering condition can be obtained, andconsequently, a content which satisfies needs at the time can beacquired with a higher degree of certainty.

Incidentally, also the broadcasting system of the present embodimentdescribed hereinabove can be applied to a broadcasting system whichbroadcasts by the ATSC-M/H method.

Application Example to a Broadcasting System which Broadcasts by theATSC-M/H System

In such an instance, the PDI-BA is placed into at least one of the“Service” fragment, “Schedule” fragment and “Content” fragment among theelements which configure the Service Guide shown in FIG. 22 as describedhereinabove.

FIG. 62 illustrates details of a configuration of the “Service”fragment. Referring to FIG. 62, a “PDI-BA” element is newly added to the“PrivateExt” element defined on the lowermost stage in the “Service”fragment illustrated in FIG. 62, and the PDI-BA is placed into the“PDI-BA” element. More particularly, for example, a bitmap index of the“PDI-BA” element which is represented in bytes as <xs:elementname=“PDI-BA” type=“xs:base64Binary”xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”/> by the XML schema isencoded as base64Binary.

FIG. 63 illustrates details of a configuration of the “Schedule”fragment. Referring to FIG. 63, a “PDI-BA” element is newly added to the“PrivateExt” element defined on the lowermost stage in the “Schedule”fragment illustrated in FIG. 63, and the PDI-BA is placed into the“PDI-BA” element. More particularly, for example, a bitmap index of the“PDI-BA” element which is represented in bytes as <xs:elementname=“PDI-BA” type=“xs:base64Binary”xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”/> by the XML schema isencoded as base64Binary.

FIG. 64 illustrates details of a configuration of the “Content”fragment. Referring to FIG. 64, a “PDI-BA” element is newly added to the“PrivateExt” element defined on the lowermost stage in the “Content”fragment illustrated in FIG. 64, and the PDI-BA is placed into the“PDI-BA” element. More particularly, for example, a bitmap index of the“PDI-BA” element which is represented in bytes as <xs:elementname=“PDI-BA” type=“xs:base64Binary”xmlns:xs=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”/> by the XML schema isencoded as base64Binary.

It is to be noted that the PDI-Q or PDI-S is placed into the“Interactivity Data” fragment from among the elements which configurethe Service Guide illustrated in FIG. 22 as described hereinabove.

Further, the broadcasting system of the present embodiment can beapplied also to a broadcasting system which carries out NRTbroadcasting.

Application Example of a Broadcasting System which Carries Out NRTBroadcasting

In such a case, the PDI-BA, that is, the provider side PDI-BA,transmitted from the server 11 to the client 12 in the broadcastingsystem 10 described above is placed into and transmitted together with“PDI descriptor” newly prescribed in SMT or NRT-IT (FIG. 29).

FIG. 65 illustrates an example of the syntax of “PDI descriptor.” InFIG. 65, each of the descriptors described is defined together with abit number (No. of bits) and a format (Format).

According to the syntax illustrated in FIG. 65, the PDI-BA is describedin the descriptor “PDI-BA” of variable bits.

It is to be noted that naturally the broadcasting system of the presentembodiment can be applied to a broadcasting system which broadcasts bythe ATSC-M/H system described hereinabove or a broadcasting system whichcarries out NRT broadcasting by a method other than an existingbroadcasting system.

While the series of processes described above can be executed byhardware, it may otherwise be executed by software. In the case wherethe series of processes is executed by software, a program whichconstructs the software is installed from a program recording mediuminto a computer incorporated in hardware for exclusive use or, forexample, a personal computer for universal use which can execute variousfunctions by installing various programs.

The program recording medium in which a program which is installed in acomputer and can be placed into a state in which it can be executed bythe computer is stored is configured from, as seen in FIG. 2, aremovable medium 31 which is a package medium formed from a magneticdisk (including a flexible disk), an optical disk (including a CD-ROM(Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and anoptical magnetic disc) or a semiconductor memory, the ROM 22 in whichthe program is stored temporarily or permanently or a hard disk or thelike which configures the storage section 28. Storage of the programinto the program recording medium is carried out through a wire orwireless communication medium such as a local area network, the Internetor a digital satellite broadcast through the communication section 29which is an interface of a router, a modem or the like as occasiondemands.

It is to be noted that, in the present specification, the steps whichdescribe the program may be but need not necessarily be processed in atime series in the order as described, and include processes which areexecuted in parallel or individually without being processed in a timeseries.

Further, in the present specification, the term “system” is used torepresent an entire apparatus composed of a plurality of apparatus.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been describedusing specific terms, such description is for illustrative purpose only,and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transmission apparatus for distributing acontent item to a client, comprising: question generation means forgenerating question information representative of a question regardingone or a combination of preference, demographic, and interestinformation of a user of the client; and transmission means fortransmitting the question information to the user, the questioninformation being used to generate user answer information that isrepresentative of an answer to the question input by the user inresponse to the question represented by the question information, theuser answer information being stored in a memory and retrieved to filterthe content item, and transmitting the content item together withprovider side answer information of an answer to the question set by aprovider, the provider side answer information being associated with thecontent item, wherein the provider side answer information is comparedwith the user answer information stored in the memory to filter thecontent item based on whether the provider side answer informationmatches the user side answer information, and the user answerinformation has a same predetermined format as the provider side answerinformation.
 2. A transmission method of a transmission apparatus fordistributing a content item to a client, comprising: generating questioninformation representative of a question regarding one or a combinationof preference, demographic, and interest information of a user of theclient; transmitting the question information to the user, the questioninformation being used to generate user answer information that isrepresentative of an answer to the question input by the user inresponse to the question represented by the question information, theuser answer information being stored in a memory and retrieved to filterthe content item; and transmitting the content item together withprovider side answer information of an answer to the question set by aprovider, the provider side answer information being associated with thecontent item, wherein the provider side answer information is comparedwith the user answer information stored in the memory to filter thecontent item based on whether the provider side answer informationmatches the user side answer information, and the user answerinformation has a same predetermined format as the provider side answerinformation.
 3. A reception apparatus for acquiring a content itemdistributed from a server, comprising: answer generation means forgenerating, in response to question information representative of aquestion regarding one or a combination of preference, demographic, andinterest information of a user and transmitted from the server to saidreception apparatus, user side answer information of an answer of theuser to the question; a memory configured to store the user side answerinformation, which is retrieved to filter the content item; receivingmeans for receiving from the server the content item together withprovider side answer information of an answer to the question set by aprovider, the provider side answer information having a samepredetermined format as the user side answer information and beingassociated with the content item; and matching means for performing acomparison between the user side answer information and the providerside answer information transmitted from the server to said receptionapparatus to filter the content item, distributed from the server, basedon whether the provider side answer information matches the user sideanswer information.
 4. A reception method of a reception apparatus foracquiring a content item distributed from a server, comprising:generating, in response to question information representative of aquestion regarding one or a combination of preference, demographic, andinterest information of a user and transmitted from the server to thereception apparatus, user side answer information of an answer of theuser to the question; storing the user side information in a memory;receiving from the server the content item together with provider sideanswer information of an answer to the question set by a provider, theprovider side answer information having a same predetermined format asthe user side answer information and being associated with the contentitem; and performing, by a processor of the reception apparatus, acomparison between the user side answer information and the providerside answer information transmitted from the server to the receptionapparatus to filter the content item, distributed from the server, basedon whether the provider side answer information matches the user sideanswer information.
 5. A transmission and reception system, comprising:a transmission apparatus adapted to distribute a content item; and areception apparatus adapted to filter the content item distributed fromthe transmission apparatus; said transmission apparatus including aquestion generator configured to generate question informationrepresentative of a question regarding one or a combination ofpreference, demographic, and interest information of a user of saidreception apparatus, and a transmitter configured to transmit thequestion information to the user, and transmit the content item togetherwith provider side answer information of an answer to the question setby a provider, the provider side answer information being associatedwith the content item; said reception apparatus including an answergenerator configured to generate user side answer information of ananswer of the user to the question represented by the questioninformation in response to the question information transmitted from thetransmission apparatus, a memory configured to store the user sideanswer information, which is retrieved to filter the content item; areceiver configured to receive from the server the content item togetherwith the provider side answer information of the answer to the questionset by the provider, the provider side answer information having a samepredetermined format as the user side answer information; and aprocessor configured to perform a comparison between the user sideanswer information and the provider side answer information transmittedfrom the transmission apparatus to filter the content item, distributedfrom the transmission apparatus, based on whether the provider sideanswer information matches the user side answer information.
 6. Atransmission apparatus for distributing a content item to a client,comprising: a question generator configured to generate questioninformation representative of a question regarding one or a combinationof preference, demographic, and interest information of a user of theclient; and a transmitter configured to transmit the questioninformation to the user, the question information being used to generateuser answer information that is representative of an answer to thequestion input by the user in response to the question represented bythe question information, the user answer information being stored in amemory and retrieved to filter the content item, and transmit thecontent item together with provider side answer information of an answerto the question set by a provider, the provider side answer informationbeing associated with the content item, wherein the provider side answerinformation is compared with the user answer information stored in thememory to filter the content item based on whether the provider sideanswer information matches the user side answer information, and theuser answer information has a same predetermined format as the providerside answer information.
 7. The transmission apparatus according toclaim 6, further comprising a metadata generator configured to generatemetadata including the provider side answer information as metadata ofthe content item corresponding to the answer to the question set by theprovider; wherein said transmitter is configured to transmit themetadata to the client.
 8. The transmission apparatus according to claim6, wherein the transmitter transmits a digital television broadcastsignal including the content item and the provider side answerinformation.
 9. The transmission apparatus according to claim 6, whereinthe transmitter is configured to transmit the content item together withthe provider side answer information to a reception apparatus, and thecontent item associated with the provider side answer information isstored in the memory when the reception apparatus determines theprovider side answer information matches the user side answerinformation.
 10. A reception apparatus for acquiring a content itemdistributed from a server, comprising: an answer generator configured togenerate, in response to question information representative of aquestion regarding one or a combination of preference, demographic, andinterest information of a user and transmitted from the server to saidreception apparatus, user side answer information of an answer of theuser to the question; a memory configured to store the user side answerinformation, which is retrieved to filter the content item; a receiverconfigured to receive from the server the content item together withprovider side answer information of an answer to the question set by aprovider, the provider side answer information having a samepredetermined format as the user side answer information and beingassociated with the content item; and a matcher configured to perform acomparison between the user side answer information and the providerside answer information transmitted from the server to said receptionapparatus to filter the content item, distributed from the server, basedon whether the provider side answer information matches the user sideanswer information.
 11. The reception apparatus according to claim 10,wherein said processor performs the comparison to filter the contentitem corresponding to metadata including the provider side answerinformation.
 12. The reception apparatus according to claim 10, whereinthe receiver is configured to receive a digital television broadcastsignal including the content item and the provider side answerinformation.
 13. The reception apparatus according to claim 10, furthercomprising: an accumulator configured to store the content item in thememory when the matcher determines that the provider side answerinformation associated with the content item matches the user sideanswer information.